The Mechanism of SNARE-Mediated Fusion

Cryo-EM of proteoliposomes

In 1998 we established the central function of the SNARE proteins as fusogens when we reconstituted these proteins into small unilamellar liposomes (shown on the right) and measured lipid transfer between liposomes containing cognate SNARE proteins.

This system also lead to a nearly complete characterization of the yeast SNARE proteome.

We have since developed a series of other reconstitution platforms, including supported bilayers which lead to the first sub-second measure of single SNARE fusion events and into Giant unilamellar liposomes (shown below, note the scale bar differences in the two figures).

Giant unilamellar proteoliposomes containing t-SNAREs probed with cognate fluorescent v-SNAREs.

These are allowing a variety of surface diffusion measurements of SNAREs entering into various complexes.