Exocytosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires the specific interaction between the plasma membrane t-SNARE complex (Sso1/2p;Sec9p)and a vesicular v-SNARE (Snc1/2p). While SNARE proteins drive membrane fusion, many aspects of SNARE assembly and regulation are ill defined. Plasma membrane syntaxin homologs (including Sso1p) contain a highly charged juxtamembrane region between the transmembrane...

Intracellular membrane trafficking pathways must be tightly regulated to ensure proper functioning of all eukaryotic cells. Central to membrane trafficking is the formation of specific SNARE (soluble N-ethylmeleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor) complexes between proteins on opposing lipid bilayers. The Sec1/Munc18 (SM) family of proteins play an essential role in SNARE-mediate...

Upon Ca2+ influx synaptic vesicles fuse with the plasma membrane and release their neurotransmitter cargo into the synaptic cleft. Key players during this process are the Q-SNAREs syntaxin 1a and SNAP-25 and the R-SNARE synaptobrevin 2. It is thought that these membrane proteins gradually assemble into a tight trans-SNARE complex between vesicular and plasma membrane, ultimately leading to memb...

The docking and fusion of cargo-containing vesicles with target membranes of eukaryotic cells is mediated by the interaction of SNARE proteins present on both vesicle and target membranes. In many cases, the target membrane SNARE, or t-SNARE, exists as a complex of syntaxin with a member of the SNAP-25 family of palmitoylated proteins. We have identified a novel human kinase SNAK (SNARE kinase)...

Exocytosis of insulin is dependent on the soluble N-ethylmaleimide attachment protein receptor (SNARE) complex proteins in the B-cells. We assessed insulin release as well as gene and protein expression of SNARE complex protein in isolated pancreatic islets of type 2 diabetic patients (n = 4) and nondiabetic control subjects (n = 4). In islets from the diabetic patients, insulin responses to 8....

SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein attachment protein receptor) proteins are supposed to mediate the docking and/or fusion of the vesicle with the plasma membrane. However, it is not clearly understood how this process is regulated. In a search for potential SNARE regulators, we recently identified septin 5 (Sept5) as a novel SNARE interacting protein. Septins were first i...

The SNARE proteins are essential components of the intracellular fusion machinery. It is thought that they form a tight four-helix complex between membranes, in effect initiating fusion. Most SNAREs contain a single coiled-coil region, referred to as the SNARE motif, directly adjacent to a single transmembrane domain. The neuronal SNARE SNAP-25 defines a subfamily of SNARE proteins with two SNA...

Legionella pneumophila, the Gram-negative pathogen causing Legionnaires' disease, infects host cells by hijacking endocytic pathways and forming a Legionella-containing vacuole (LCV) in which the bacteria replicate. To promote LCV expansion and prevent lysosomal targeting, effector proteins are translocated into the host cell where they alter membrane traffic. Here we show that three of these e...

A conserved molecular machinery based on SNARE proteins catalyzes most, if not all, cellular membrane fusion events. A flurry of recent biophysical studies have established a detailed molecular picture of the core SNARE complex. Structural and biochemical analysis of the SNARE machinery is rapidly advancing our understanding of the specificity, regulation and protein catalysis of membrane fusion.

Ca(2+)-dependent exocytosis of synaptic vesicles is mediated by the SNARE proteins synaptobrevin/VAMP, SNAP-25, and syntaxin. SNARE function is controlled by conserved regulatory proteins, including the complexins. In a study by Xue et al. in this issue of Neuron, contradictory data from Drosophila and mouse complexin mutants have been resolved, revealing a complex pattern of facilitatory and i...