Congratulations to Jochen Zimmer, PhD, Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and his lab on the publication of the structure and mechanism of substrate recognition of hyaluronan synthase in Nature (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04534-2). Hyaluronan is a ubiquitous acidic glycosaminoglycan of the vertebrate extracellular matrix that is particularly enriched in connective tissues, the vasculature and the cartilage. It modulates a broad range of tissue remodeling processes, including wound healing, embryological development, angiogenesis and tumorigenesis. Determining how this integral membrane protein links hyaluronan biosynthesis to export across the cellular membrane represents a major milestone in our understanding of the development and regeneration after injury of vertebrates including humans from early embryos to adults.
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