U.S.-Finland Cooperative Research: Characterization of Mutants of The Bo-type Respiratory Oxidase of E. Coli

该奖项支持Robert B. Gennis教授和伊利诺伊大学的一名研究生与芬兰赫尔辛基大学药物化学系Marten Wikstrom教授及其研究小组在生物化学研究方面的合作。他们研究的主要目的是表征大肠杆菌中主要的膜结合酶的结构和功能细节，该酶催化泛醇的氧化和分子氧还原为水。这种电子转移反应与质子在细胞膜上的净易位相结合。该研究计划涉及美国小组的分子遗传学专业知识和芬兰小组的生物物理和光谱专业知识的协同组合。这些科学家正在研究的氧化酶类型是直接参与生物能量转导的主要酶家族。本研究将为进一步了解这些酶的结构和质子易位的分子基础提供实验依据。

This award supports Professor Robert B. Gennis and a graduate student of the University of Illinois to collaborate in biochemistry research with Professor Marten Wikstrom and his research group at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry of the University of Helsinki, Finland. The primary objective of their research is to characterize the structural and functional details of the predominant membrane- bound enzyme in Escherichia coli which catalyzes the oxidation of ubiquinol and the reduction of molecular oxygen to water. This electron transfer reaction is coupled to the net translocation of protons across the cell membrane. The research plan involves a synergistic combination of molecular genetics expertise in the U.S. group and biophysical and spectroscopic expertise in the group in Finland. The type of oxidases being studied by these scientists are a major family of enzymes directly involved in biological energy transduction. The proposed research should provide the experimental basis for understanding the architecture of these enzymes and the molecular basis of proton translocation.