How water molecules form a bucket brigade to ferry protons into organelles (IMAGE)
Caption
In this illustration, the Ferris wheel part of the V-ATPase proton pump is at the bottom, rotating clockwise, and the inside of the organelle - the drop-off point for protons - is at the top, in green. The zoomed-in view at left depicts a key finding of this study: Scientists from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, SUNY Upstate Medical University and Arizona State University confirmed that water molecules form "wires" at the drop-off point that convey protons from their seats on the Ferris wheel to the organelle interior, like a fire brigade passing buckets hand to hand.
Credit
Greg Stewart/SLAC; S.-H. Roh et al.,Science Advances, 7 October 2020
Usage Restrictions
None
License
Licensed content