title: VDAC, the early days.
abstract: VDAC is now universally accepted as the channel in the mitochondrial outer membrane responsible for metabolite flux in and out of mitochondria. Its discovery occurred over two independent lines of investigation in the 1970s and 80s. This retrospective article describes the history of VDAC's discovery and how these lines merged in a collaboration by the authors. The article was written to give the reader a sense of the role played by laboratory environment, personalities, and serendipity in the discovery of the molecular basis for the unusual permeability properties of the mitochondrial outer membrane. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: VDAC structure, function, and regulation of mitochondrial metabolism.
authors: Dept. Biology University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Colombini@umd.edu
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: Colombini
authors: Carmen A
authors: CA
authors: Mannella
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055724:Electrophysiological Phenomena; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D050994:Voltage-Dependent Anion Channels / Q000266:history* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D050994:Voltage-Dependent Anion Channels