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Sci. Signal., 26 October 2010
Vol. 3, Issue 145, p. ec333
[DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.3145ec333]

EDITORS' CHOICE

Secretion Three’s the Charm

Stella M. Hurtley

Science, AAAS, Cambridge CB2 1LQ, UK

The molecular machinery mediating membrane fusion during secretion from a cell requires a complex of so-called SNARE proteins that forms a coiled bundle of four parallel {alpha}-helices. Mohrmann et al. developed an elegant approach to find out how many SNARE complexes are required to promote secretion of individual secretory vesicles in living chromaffin cells by titrating the ratio of wild-type and mutant SNARE proteins expressed. For fast synchronous release, a minimum of three SNARE complexes per vesicle were required. Fewer SNARE complexes resulted in slower release.

R. Mohrmann, H. de Wit, M. Verhage, E. Neher, J. B. Sørensen, Fast vesicle fusion in living cells requires at least three SNARE complexes. Science 330, 502–505 (2010). [Abstract] [Full Text]

Citation: S. M. Hurtley, Three’s the Charm. Sci. Signal. 3, ec333 (2010).

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