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Updated: Jul 1, 2025

Single-Molecule Diffusion and Assembly on Polymer-Crowded Lipid Membranes
Published on: July 19, 2022
The TAM, a Translocation and Assembly Module for protein assembly and potential conduit for phospholipid transfer
Kwok Jian Goh1,2, Christopher J Stubenrauch1,2, Trevor Lithgow3,4
1Centre to Impact AMR, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia.
Abstract:
The assembly of β-barrel proteins into the bacterial outer membrane is an essential process enabling the colonization of new environmental niches. The TAM was discovered as a module of the β-barrel protein assembly machinery; it is a heterodimeric complex composed of an outer membrane protein (TamA) bound to an inner membrane protein (TamB). The TAM spans the periplasm, providing a scaffold through the peptidoglycan layer and catalyzing the translocation and assembly of β-barrel proteins into the outer membrane. Recently, studies on another membrane protein (YhdP) have suggested that TamB might play a role in phospholipid transport to the outer membrane. Here we review and re-evaluate the literature covering the experimental studies on the TAM over the past decade, to reconcile what appear to be conflicting claims on the function of the TAM.
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