Surface Topography and Molecular Stoichiometry of the Mitochondrial Channel,VDAC, in Crystalline Arrays

摘要

The mitochondrial outer membrane contains a protein, called VDAC, that formslarge aqueous pores. In Neurospora crassa outer membranes, VDAC forms two-dimensional crystalline arrays whose size and frequency can be greatly augmented by lipase treatment of these membranes. Fourier filtration and surface reconstruction of freeze-dried/shadowed (45 deg) arrays produced detailed images of two populations of crystals, whose lattices are mirror images of each other.