For this article, Eugene Russo interviewed Axel T. Brunger, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor of molecular and cellular physiology at Stanford University. Data from the Web of Science (ISI, Philadelphia) show that Hot Papers are cited 50 to 100 times more often than the average paper of the same type and age.

R.B. Sutton, D. Fasshauer, R. Jahn, A.T. Brunger, "Crystal structure of a SNARE complex involved in synaptic exocytosis at 2.4 angstrom resolution," Nature, 395: 347-53, Sept. 24, 1998. (Cited in about 210 papers since publication)

The precise role of SNAREs, protein complexes known to be integral to cell membrane fusion--and, as a result, a number of cellular functions1--continues to elude researchers. By revealing the complex's X-ray crystal structure, however, this paper has helped scientists devise appropriate SNARE experiments that continue to elucidate the protein.

SNAREs (soluble NSF-attachment protein receptors; NSF stands...

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