GENETIC ANALYSIS OF QUINONE BINDING IN MEMPRANE PROTEINS

喹酮类化合物在自然界中无处不在，在电子领域发挥着重要作用。 转移和能量传递。蛋白质的相互作用改变了 这些对苯二酚的性质，以便相同的对苯二酚物种可以执行 细胞中的许多功能。细菌光合作用反应中心 是研究这些醌-蛋白质相互作用的一个很好的模型系统， 因为它含有两个表征良好、化学上不同的苯二酚 其结构已知为原子分辨的结合位点。我们是 目前正在开发绿色红假单胞菌的遗传系统以 研究这些相互作用。光合作用的蛋白质工程 反应中心将被用来研究苯二酚的结合。一个 了解苯二酚-蛋白质相互作用的分子基础 这些相互作用如何改变苯二酚的化学性质 反应中心可应用于其他电子转移和能量传递 传导系统，包括线粒体的系统。 这项研究项目将在以下方面促进生物医学研究 途径：(1)膜结合蛋白复合体参与多种 重要的生物过程，包括呼吸、运输 过程、转化、感觉转导、受体结合和 信号转导。反应中心是唯一的膜蛋白 其结构已为原子分辨率所知。洞察世界 该系统的结构和功能的相关性可应用于 这些其他系统。(2)对苯二酚分子基础的研究 反应中心的功能将为学生提供 对生物中电子传递机制的认识 酶中的系统和底物结合。(3)基因工程 学生将在本课程中使用的技术和原则 该方案可广泛应用于生物医学的其他项目 关联性。

Quinones are ubiquitous in nature and play an important role in electron transfer and energy transduction. Protein interactions modify the properties of these quinones so that the same quinone species can perform many functions in the cell. The bacterial photosynthetic reaction center is an excellent model system to study these quinone-protein interactions, since it contains two well characterized, chemically distinct quinone binding sites whose structures are known to atomic resolution. We are currently developing a genetic system in Rhodopseudomonas viridis to study these interactions. Protein engineering of the photosynthetic reaction center will be utilized to study quinone binding. An understanding of the molecular basis of quinone-protein interactions and how these interactions modify the chemical properties of quinones in the reaction center can be applied to other electron transfer and energy transducing systems, including those of mitochondria. This research project will promote biomedical research in the following ways: (1) Membrane-bound protein complexes are involved in many important biological processes, including respiration, transport processes, transformation, sensory transduction, receptor binding, and signal transduction. The reaction center is the only membrane protein whose structure is known to atomic resolution. Insights into the correlation of structure and function in this system can be applied to these other systems. (2) The study of the molecular basis of quinone function in reaction centers will provide the student with an understanding of the mechanisms of electron transfer in biological systems and substrate binding in enzymes. (3) The genetic engineering techniques and principles that will be used by the student in this proposal can be applied to a wide variety of other projects of biomedical relevance.