Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Michiko Yamashita, Udo R. Markert
Summary: This review summarizes the current knowledge of drug transporters in the human placenta, emphasizing the importance for the health of pregnant women and their fetuses in need of drug treatment.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Konrad Pakula, Carlos Sequeiros-Borja, Wanda Biala-Leonhard, Aleksandra Pawela, Joanna Banasiak, Aurelien Bailly, Marcin Radom, Markus Geisler, Jan Brezovsky, Michal Jasinski
Summary: This study investigated the molecular determinants of substrate selectivity in the legume transporter MtABCG46. They identified a narrow access path and a critical residue that contribute to the selective translocation of phenylpropanoids. These findings provide important insights into the transport mechanisms of polyphenolic compounds in plants.
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR LIFE SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Solveig G. Schmidt, Ulrik Gether, Claus J. Loland
Summary: Sodium-coupled neurotransmitter transporters are important in terminating synaptic neurotransmission, and research into their molecular transport mechanisms has been enlightening. Despite their structural differences, studies on neurotransmitter: sodium symporters and excitatory amino acid transporters are crucial in understanding their ion-dependence and transport kinetics. Single-molecule studies have been instrumental in expanding the understanding of protein-level transport across membranes.
NEUROCHEMICAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Michael Gutensohn, Erin Hartzell, Natalia Dudareva
Summary: Terpenoids are a diverse class of plant metabolites with various functions. The metabolic channeling in the complex terpenoid biosynthetic network of plants plays a crucial role in their production. Understanding the mechanisms of these metabolic pathways is important for agricultural, pharmaceutical, and industrial applications.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
S. Antony Ceasar
Summary: Foxtail millet, a fully annotated C4 model cereal, has genomic resources that are helpful in understanding and improving nutrient transport in other cereals.
PLANT GROWTH REGULATION
(2023)
Editorial Material
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Youjun Zhang, Alisdair R. Fernie
Summary: The study demonstrates how CRISPR enzymes and RNA scaffolds can facilitate the formation and disassembly of synthetic enzyme complexes, offering powerful tools for metabolic engineering.
TRENDS IN BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Jan Stephan Wichers, Paolo Mesen-Ramirez, Gwendolin Fuchs, Jing Yu-Strzelczyk, Jan Staecker, Heidrun von Thien, Arne Alder, Isabelle Henshall, Benjamin Liffner, Georg Nagel, Christian Loew, Danny Wilson, Tobias Spielmann, Shiqiang Gao, Tim-Wolf Gilberger, Anna Bachmann, Jan Strauss
Summary: This study investigated the subcellular localization and essentiality of several membrane transport proteins in Plasmodium falciparum parasites. Four of the membrane transport proteins were found to be essential for asexual development, and the plasma membrane resident transporter 1 was shown to be essential for gametocytogenesis.
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Jonai Pujol-Gimenez, Marion Poirier, Sven Buehlmann, Celine Schuppisser, Rajesh Bhardwaj, Mahendra Awale, Ricardo Visini, Sacha Javor, Matthias A. Hediger, Jean-Louis Reymond
Summary: Researchers discovered the first inhibitor of ZIP8, showing that this target is druggable, through screening a library of molecules in a database.
Article
Cell Biology
Maria Florencia Carusela, J. Miguel Rubi
Summary: Understanding the structure, activity, and characteristics of membrane transporters is crucial, and a computational model has been proposed to replicate their functionality by quantifying the flow of substrates through the cell membrane. The model can identify the forces that drive transport, such as conformational changes in ATP hydrolysis or electrochemical gradients of ions, and compute transport rates by averaging velocities along substrate paths, in accordance with experimental results. This model provides an overall framework for analyzing membrane transport proteins that regulate the movement of ions, nutrients, and other molecules across cell membranes.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biology
Yi-Min Zhang, Hong-Xiao Yu, Wang-Wei Ye, Jun-Xiang Shan, Nai-Qian Dong, Tao Guo, You-Huang Xiang, Hai Zhang, Yi-Bing Yang, Ya-Chao Li, Huai-Yu Zhao, Zi-Qi Lu, Shuang-Qin Guo, Jie-Jie Lei, Ben Liao, Xiao-Rui Mu, Ying-Jie Cao, Jia-Jun Yu, Hong-Xuan Lin
Summary: The study reveals a key QTL that regulates rice grain size through metabolic flux allocation. This finding contributes to enhancing crop yield without introducing deleterious side effects.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hao Zhang, Ruijuan Ye, Yuguang Mu, Tianhu Li, Huaqiang Zeng
Summary: This novel class of cation transporters has a simple structure, efficiently and selectively moving K+ ions across cell membranes, while also showing potential anticancer activities.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
F. Van Liefferinge, E. -m. Krammer, J. Waeytens, M. Prevost
Summary: The study used molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the import of thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) through the mitochondrial membranes. It revealed that TPP utilizes a specific carrier with a single binding site for transport across the outer and inner membranes, demonstrating analogies with other metabolites. Energy contributions from salt bridge networks and ionic interactions play essential roles in the transport mechanism of TPP.
JOURNAL OF COMPUTER-AIDED MOLECULAR DESIGN
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Lukas Gebauer, Muhammad Rafehi, Jurgen Brockmoeller
Summary: Stereoselectivity in drug membrane transport varies greatly, even among closely related transporters. These findings have important implications for drug design and development.
Review
Plant Sciences
Stanislaus Antony Ceasar, Theivanayagam Maharajan, Pedro Garcia-Caparros
Summary: Plants require essential nutrients for normal physiological functions, and plasma membrane-localized nutrient transporters play key roles in acquiring and allocating these nutrients. Extensive research has been done on functional characterization of plant nutrient transporters, including crystal structure analysis and mutagenesis studies. This review provides a comprehensive list of functional residues and discusses the potential application of CRISPR/Cas tools to improve nutrient transport in plants.
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN PLANT SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zuran Li, Xinyue Mei, Tao Li, Shu Yang, Li Qin, Bo Li, Yanqun Zu
Summary: The results of the experiment showed that the available Cd content in the soil decreased with the application of Ca(OH)2 and CaCl2, and the soil pH value increased with Ca(OH)2 application. The Cd content in all parts of Panax notoginseng increased with the increase in Cd treatment concentrations, but decreased with Ca(OH)2 and CaCl2 treatments. Additionally, the activities of membrane transporters were influenced by both Ca and Cd, with Ca(2+) and OH+ promoting the activities of CC, ATPase, and CAXs.
Article
Plant Sciences
Anna Wojakowska, Karolina Kulak, Michal Jasinski, Piotr Kachlicki, Stanislaw Stawinski, Maciej Stobiecki
ACTA PHYSIOLOGIAE PLANTARUM
(2015)
Article
Plant Sciences
Mami Suzuki, Ryo Nakabayashi, Yoshiyuki Ogata, Nozomu Sakurai, Toshiaki Tokimatsu, Susumu Goto, Makoto Suzuki, Michal Jasinski, Enrico Martinoia, Shungo Otagaki, Shogo Matsumoto, Kazuki Saito, Katsuhiro Shiratake
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Natalia Stec, Joanna Banasiak, Michal Jasinski
ACTA BIOCHIMICA POLONICA
(2016)
Article
Plant Sciences
Wanda Biala, Joanna Banasiak, Karolina Jarzyniak, Aleksandra Pawela, Michal Jasinski
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2017)
Article
Plant Sciences
Aleksandra Pawela, Joanna Banasiak, Wanda Biala, Enrico Martinoia, Michal Jasinski
Article
Plant Sciences
Joanna Banasiak, Lorenzo Borghi, Natalia Stec, Enrico Martinoia, Michal Jasinski
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2020)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Pengchao Hao, Jian Xia, Jie Liu, Martin Di Donato, Konrad Pakula, Aurelien Bailly, Michal Jasinski, Markus Geisler
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2020)
Review
Plant Sciences
Joanna Banasiak, Michal Jasinski
Summary: Knowledge about plant ATP-binding cassette (ABC) proteins is crucial for sustainable agriculture and high-quality products. Research on nonmodel plants has provided insights into the evolutionary background and adaptive mechanisms of ABC proteins, facilitating breeding and development of new varieties.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Konrad Pakula, Carlos Sequeiros-Borja, Wanda Biala-Leonhard, Aleksandra Pawela, Joanna Banasiak, Aurelien Bailly, Marcin Radom, Markus Geisler, Jan Brezovsky, Michal Jasinski
Summary: This study investigated the molecular determinants of substrate selectivity in the legume transporter MtABCG46. They identified a narrow access path and a critical residue that contribute to the selective translocation of phenylpropanoids. These findings provide important insights into the transport mechanisms of polyphenolic compounds in plants.
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR LIFE SCIENCES
(2023)
Review
Plant Sciences
Joanna Banasiak, Tomasz Jamruszka, Jeremy D. Murray, Michal Jasinski
Summary: Most land plants establish symbiosis with beneficial soil microbes, providing nutrition through endosymbiotic processes. Host transport systems play a crucial role in these symbioses by modulating the expression and function of plant transporter systems.
Article
Plant Sciences
Karolina Jarzyniak, Joanna Banasiak, Tomasz Jamruszka, Aleksandra Pawela, Martin Di Donato, Ondrej Novak, Markus Geisler, Michal Jasinski
Summary: Growing evidence shows the essential role of plant hormone cytokinins (CKs) in nitrogen-fixing symbiosis, with ABC transporter ABCG56 playing a crucial role in the early nodulation stages by exporting bioactive CKs in an ATP-dependent manner. Disruption of ABCG-mediated cytokinin transport impairs nodulation, highlighting the importance of this process in the establishment of N-fixing nodules.