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The membrane that surrounds cells in living organisms is extremely flexible and sensitive. How it protects itself from damage and renews itself is crucial for many life processes, and is not yet fully understood in detail. Scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich have now been able to gain fascinating new insights using cryo-electron microscopy.

Their work is published in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.

The membrane protein Vipp1, known from the photosynthetic apparatus of plants, algae, and bacteria, can form various structures that could serve as tools to stabilize the cell membrane and strengthen it if necessary.

In a second study published in the same journal, the researchers were also able to gain new insights into the function of the related protein PspA, which is found in bacteria. Both molecules, Vipp1 and PspA, are unusually plastic and can adopt different structures, creating rings and tubes with different diameters.

The cell membrane has numerous important functions. For instance, it protects the inside of the cell from the environment. At the same time, nutrients are absorbed through the cell membrane, waste products are excreted, and signals are transmitted between cells.

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