Fig. 5: Membrane integration and mechanism.
From: Structures of the TMC-1 complex illuminate mechanosensory transduction
a, Molecular dynamics simulation of the membrane-embedded TMC-1 complex (E conformation) shows penetration of the H3 helix into the lipid bilayer. b, Key residues that define the amphipathic nature of the H3 helix are shown as sticks. c, Thickness patterns for extracellular and cytosolic membrane leaflets averaged over the last 500 ns of three simulated replicas for the E conformation. The pattern for the C conformation is shown in Extended Data Fig. 8. The cross-section of the protein is shown in blue and the location of the cross-section is indicated above the plots using a surface representation of the TMC-1 complex. d, Schematic illustrating mechanisms by which direct or indirect forces might be transduced to ion channel gating. Grey arrows (right) show how membrane tension could directly gate the TMC-1 complex by exerting force on TMIE. Indirect force as a result of changes in membrane thickness could affect the position of the membrane-embedded helix H3, modulating ion channel gating.
