title: Crossing a biological velvet rope.
abstract: In contrast to our understanding of the composition of the outer membrane (OM) of Gram-negative bacteria, the biogenesis of this organelle has remained elusive. This is in part because factors involved in OM assembly have been refractive to chemical and biological analyses. A recent study shows how small molecules and chemical conditionality can be used to probe the biogenesis of the OM at the molecular level and suggests that similar techniques can be used to identify factors involved in the assembly of other organelles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, B219 Levine Science Research Center, Box 90354, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708-0354, USA. dewey@duke.edu
authors.forename: Dewey G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: McCafferty
mesh_terms: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins