DI CICCO , Aurélie

Membrane contact sites (MCS) are subcellular regions where two organelles appose their membranes to exchange small molecules, including lipids. Structural information on how proteins form MCS is scarce. We designed an in vitro MCS with two membranes and a pair of tethering proteins suitable for cryo-tomography analysis. It includes VAP-A, an ER...

Membrane contact sites (MCSs) are heterogeneous in shape, composition, and dynamics. Despite this diversity, VAP proteins act as receptors for multiple FFAT motif-containing proteins and drive the formation of most MCSs that involve the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Although the VAP-FFAT interaction is well characterized, no model explains how...