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<abstract xmlns="http://eprints.org/ep2/data/2.0">Since the discovery and implication of N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor (NSF)-attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins in membrane&#13;
fusion almost two decades ago, there have been significant efforts to understand their involvement at the molecular level. In the&#13;
current study, we report for the first time the molecular interaction between full-length recombinant t-SNAREs and v-SNARE present in&#13;
opposing liposomes, leading to the assembly of a t-/v-SNARE ring complex. Using high-resolution electron microscopy, the electron&#13;
density maps and 3D topography of the membrane-directed SNARE ring complex was determined at nanometre resolution. Similar to&#13;
the t-/v-SNARE ring complex formed when 50 nm v-SNARE liposomes meet a t-SNARE-reconstituted planer membrane, SNARE rings&#13;
are also formed when 50 nm diameter isolated synaptic vesicles (SVs) meet a t-SNARE-reconstituted planer lipid membrane.&#13;
Furthermore, the mathematical prediction of the SNARE ring complex size with reasonable accuracy, and the possible mechanism of&#13;
membrane-directed t-/v-SNARE ring complex assembly, was determined from the study. Therefore in the present study, using both&#13;
lipososome-reconstituted recombinant t-/v-SNARE proteins, and native v-SNARE present in isolated SV membrane, the membranedirected&#13;
molecular assembly of the neuronal SNARE complex was determined for the first time and its size mathematically predicted.&#13;
These results provide a new molecular understanding of the universal machinery and mechanism of membrane fusion in cells, having&#13;
fundamental implications in human health and disease.</abstract>
