The tricky task of nitrate/nitrite antiport

09.08.2013

Andrade SL, Einsle O.

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2013 Sep 27;52(40):10422-4

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl.         online article

Subtle differences: Two recent crystal structures have provided the first insight into nitrate/nitrite exchangers (example shown with bound nitrite), which are crucial to bacterial metabolism. A direct comparison of the structures reveals how the proteins can distinguish between their highly similar substrates and translate this into a conformational change to translocate ions across the membrane.