Seminar by Prof. Dr. Raimund Dutzler

University of Zurich (Switzerland)

Structural Basis for the transport of transition metal ions in the SLC11/NRAMP family of membrane transport proteins

Members of the SLC11 (NRAMP) family transport iron and other transition metal ions across cellular membranes. These membrane proteins are found in all kingdoms of life with a high degree of sequence conservation. The X-ray structures of prokaryotic SLC11 transporters have revealed the basis for transition metal ion selectivity. In combination with functional assays, these structures explain how transition metals such as Fe²⁺ and Mn²⁺ are efficiently transported into cells despite the presence of Ca²⁺ that is several orders of magnitude more abundant.