The image shows how SNARE proteins (in salmon color) initiate the fusion of two membranes by facilitating encounters of their water-repelling tails (yellow and green) at the water-filled interface between the membranes (illustrated by the tails shown as spheres).
Jose Rizo-Rey ("Josep Rizo"), Ph.D., is Professor of Biophysics, Biochemistry, and Pharmacology at UT Southwestern. He holds the Virginia Lazenby O'Hara Chair in Biochemistry.