MAL gene and Mal protein organization. (A) Representation of MAL gene showing the 4 coding exons represented by different colored cylinders. (B) Schematic showing Mal protein organization in the membrane, with 2 predicted external loops. Amino acids are color-coded according to the exon that encodes them (exon 1, green; exon 2, blue; exon 3, orange; exon 4, purple). (C) All-atom explicit solvent molecular dynamics calculation of modeled Mal protein, depicting membrane insertion. Mal protein is depicted in green cartoon representation, whereas the lipid components are shown as wire representation colored by atom type. The solvent has been omitted for clarity. Phosphate atoms are represented as gold balls for orientation of the membrane leaflet.