Tetraspanin Enriched Microdomains - Web Formation and Function

四联蛋白是一个小的膜蛋白家族，无处不在的表达，并参与了非常多的细胞过程。有充分的证据表明，它们通过相互和大量其他分子的横向结合来组织膜，形成所谓的四聚氰胺网。迄今为止，人们对四蛋白网的功能和结构了解甚少。研究四聚氰胺网，在之前的资助阶段，我们主要有两个发现。首先，我们发现CD81分子由于其δ环编码的特异性而形成同源簇。其次，我们发现四蛋白网不是由交联的小复合物组成的，而是类似于纳米团簇的网络。我们现在建议进一步探索四聚氰胺网的解剖结构，研究产生簇网络的机制，并检查四聚氰胺网的分子动力学。这些见解将揭示由那些生物学上非常活跃的蛋白质形成的复杂分子网络的形成原理。

Tetraspanins are a family of small membrane proteins, ubiquitously expressed, and involved in an exceptional large variety of cellular processes. It is well documented that they organize the membrane by associating laterally with one another and a large number of other molecules, forming a so-called tetraspanin web.To date, the function and the architecture of the tetraspanin web are only poorly understood. Studying the tetraspanin web, in the previous funding period we made essentially two findings. First, we show that the CD81 molecule forms homomeric clusters because of the specificity encoded in its δ-loop. Second, we find that the tetraspanin web is not composed of crosslinked small complexes but resembles a network of nano-clusters.We now propose to explore further the anatomy of the tetraspanin web, to study the mechanisms that generate the cluster network and to examine the dynamics of molecules of the tetraspanin web. The insights will reveal the principles underlying the formation of the complex molecular networks formed by those biologically very active proteins.