Crystal structures of the bacterial LeuT Na+-substrate symporter have revealed one substrate molecule in an occluded, centrally located binding site, whereas subsequent studies identified a putative second substrate binding site. Now additional binding analyses demonstrate that the second substrate binding site can be obscured during the preparation of detergent-solubilized LeuT for crystallography, explaining the apparent discrepancy in the reported stoichiometry.
- Matthias Quick
- Lei Shi
- Jonathan A Javitch