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. 1996 Mar 5;93(5):2219–2223. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.5.2219

Z-membranes: artificial organelles for overexpressing recombinant integral membrane proteins.

F C Gong 1, T H Giddings 1, J B Meehl 1, L A Staehelin 1, D W Galbraith 1
PMCID: PMC39938  PMID: 8700911

Abstract

We have expressed a fusion protein formed between the avian infectious bronchitis virus M protein and the bacterial enzyme beta-glucuronidase in transgenic tobacco cells. Electron microscope images of such cells demonstrate that overexpression of this fusion protein gives rise to a type of endoplasmic reticulum membrane domain in which adjacent membranes become zippered together apparently as a consequence of the oligomerizing action of beta-glucuronidase. These zippered (Z-) membranes lack markers of the endoplasmic reticulum (NADH cytochrome c reductase and ribosomes) and accumulate in the cells in the form of multilayered scroll-like structures (up to 2 micrometers in diameter; 20-50 per cell) without affecting plant growth. The discovery of Z-membranes has broad implications for biology and biotechnology in that they provide a means for accumulating large quantities of recombinant membrane proteins within discrete domains of native membranes.

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