Regulation of Membrane Protein Function: Structural Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications

Dear Colleagues,

Membrane proteins are central regulators of cellular physiology, serving as ion channels, receptors, transporters, and signaling hubs. Their activity is dynamically shaped by regulatory inputs including lipid composition, post-translational modifications, protein–protein interactions, ligand binding, voltage, and small molecules. Advances in cryo-electron microscopy, electrophysiology, and molecular dynamics simulation have opened new windows into the conformational basis of membrane protein regulation, increasingly capturing regulatory states at near-atomic resolution. Understanding how these diverse regulatory mechanisms are encoded in protein structure and translated into functional change remains one of the defining challenges of membrane biology.

This Special Issue invites original research articles and reviews that advance our understanding of membrane protein regulation across scales—from atomic-level structural mechanisms to functional and physiological consequences.

Topics include, but are not limited to the following:

• Lipid regulation of membrane protein function (phosphoinositides, cholesterol, acyl-CoA, and other bioactive lipids);
• Structural bases of ion channel gating and modulation;
• GPCR activation, signaling complex assembly, and effector coupling;
• Post-translational modifications and their conformational consequences;
• Protein–protein interactions that regulate membrane protein activity;
• Small molecule and drug binding: structural mechanisms and therapeutic relevance;
• Molecular dynamics and computational approaches to membrane protein regulation;
• Integration of structural and functional data (cryo-EM, electrophysiology, biochemistry);
• Disease-linked dysregulation of membrane proteins and therapeutic strategies.

Dr. Alys Peisley
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.