Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 10 September 2004:
Vol. 305. no. 5690, pp. 1573 - 1574
DOI: 10.1126/science.1103191
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Perspectives

STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY:
The Atomic Architecture of a Gas Channel

Mark A. Knepper and Peter Agre

Both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells need to be able to transport ammonia gas. In their Perspective, Knepper and Agre discuss an exciting study (Khademi et al.) that reports resolution of the crystallographic structure of a bacterial ammonia transport channel, AmtB, to an astonishing 1.35 angstroms, an amazing feat for an integral membrane protein. The structure reveals how ammonia is transported in bacteria and sheds light on how related ammonia transport proteins work in eukaryotic cells.

M. A. Knepper is in the Laboratory of Kidney and Electrolyte Metabolism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. E-mail: pagre{at}jhmi.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
A new paradigm for ammonia excretion in aquatic animals: role of Rhesus (Rh) glycoproteins.
P. A. Wright and C. M. Wood (2009)
J. Exp. Biol. 212, 2303-2312
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mutational Analysis of the Candida albicans Ammonium Permease Mep2p Reveals Residues Required for Ammonium Transport and Signaling.
N. Dabas, S. Schneider, and J. Morschhauser (2009)
Eukaryot. Cell 8, 147-160
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ammonium transport in the colonic crypt cell line, T84: role for Rhesus glycoproteins and NKCC1.
R. T. Worrell, L. Merk, and J. B. Matthews (2008)
Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 294, G429-G440
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evidence from knockout mice against physiologically significant aquaporin 8-facilitated ammonia transport.
B. Yang, D. Zhao, E. Solenov, and A. S. Verkman (2006)
Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 291, C417-C423
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Genetic ablation of Rhbg in the mouse does not impair renal ammonium excretion.
R. Chambrey, D. Goossens, S. Bourgeois, N. Picard, M. Bloch-Faure, F. Leviel, V. Geoffroy, M. Cambillau, Y. Colin, M. Paillard, et al. (2005)
Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 289, F1281-F1290
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)