Pumping Ions: New structural insights to calcium pump mechanisms with Salipro®
Congratulations to Poul Nissen and his team for their latest study in EMBO Reports that sheds light on the workings of the bacterial calcium pump LMCA1.
The researchers were able to visualize a critical, short-lived intermediate state of this pump as it prepares to release calcium. This was made possible by first stabilizing the LMCA1 protein using the Salipro® platform followed by cryo-electron microscopy to capture its structure in detail.
This new structure provides a deeper understanding of how these essential pumps function, which is vital for developing new medicines.
Key Takeaways:
High-Quality cryo-EM: Salipro® provided the optimal lipid environment and removed detergent background, enabling the high-resolution structural determination by cryo-EM
New Antibiotic Targets: Bacterial calcium pumps like LMCA1 could be targeted to fight infections. This research provides a blueprint for designing such drugs.
Insights into Human Diseases: Understanding this bacterial pump helps us learn more about similar pumps in our own bodies that are involved in various diseases.
Congratulations to the authors on this impressive research!
Explore the detailed findings:
https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/s44319-025-00392-x
