• Applied Microscopy
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.111-120
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• 1997

Cylinder-like crystals of $Ca^{2+}-ATPase$ provide views parallel to the lamellar plane, from which parameters of lamellar stacking can be directly measured. These parameters were measured using different preparation methods. Assuming that molecular packing is the same, data from lamellar plane could supplement those obtained by tilting large, thin plate-like crystals. However, base on data obtained .by electron microscopy and x-ray powder patterns, the plate-like crystal may have another scheme for stacking the lamellar. The projection map (h, 0, 1) from cylinder-like crystals using cryoelectron microscopy suggest the lamellar spacing can be variable.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.8
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• pp.575-587
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• 2022

Human ABCB6 is an ATP-binding cassette transporter that regulates heme biosynthesis by translocating various porphyrins from the cytoplasm into the mitochondria. Here we report the cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of human ABCB6 with its substrates, coproporphyrin III (CPIII) and hemin, at 3.5 and 3.7 Å resolution, respectively. Metal-free porphyrin CPIII binds to ABCB6 within the central cavity, where its propionic acids form hydrogen bonds with the highly conserved Y550. The resulting structure has an overall fold similar to the inward-facing apo structure, but the two nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs) are slightly closer to each other. In contrast, when ABCB6 binds a metal-centered porphyrin hemin in complex with two glutathione molecules (1 hemin: 2 glutathione), the two NBDs end up much closer together, aligning them to bind and hydrolyze ATP more efficiently. In our structures, a glycine-rich and highly flexible "bulge" loop on TM helix 7 undergoes significant conformational changes associated with substrate binding. Our findings suggest that ABCB6 utilizes at least two distinct mechanisms to fine-tune substrate specificity and transport efficiency.