NSF: Lysates

N ethylmaleimide sensitive factor (NSF) is an ~83 kDa protein (predicted MW) which was initially isolated based on its ability to restore intercisternal Golgi transport to N ethylmaleimide treated membranes. NSF was subsequently discovered to be involved in a variety of membrane fusion events. NSF is an ATPase with two ATP binding domains that are essential for membrane fusion and homo oligomerization. In order to interact with target membranes, NSF requires another set of soluble proteins called Soluble NSF attachment proteins (SNAPs). NSF has been shown to play a prominent role in synaptic vesicle fusion. Together with synaptotagmin and a SNAP, NSF modulates the interaction of SNAP25, VAMP, and syntaxin, in an ATP dependent manner, to form a complex with a sedimentation coefficient of 20 S. This complex may represent an intermediate involved in synaptic vesicle docking and fusion.