Syntaxin 1A functions as the sufficient T-SNARE for spontaneous fusion of bovine NSG to a planar lipid bilayer.

The SNARE complex, involved in vesicular trafficking and exocytosis, is composed of proteins in the vesicular membrane (V-SNAREs) that intertwine with proteins of the target membrane (T-SNAREs). Our results show that modified bovine neurosecretory granules (NSG) were able to spontaneously fuse with a planar lipid membrane, containing the t-SNARE syntaxin 1A. This provides evidence that syntaxin alone is able to form a functional fusion complex. This project is another step towards producing an artificial synapse to study possible regulatory components affecting vesicle fusion