The ATP synthase: a gifted protein that keeps on giving

NIH Director's Seminar Series ATP synthases produce most of the ATP that sustains living cells – that is, in a human body, over 150 pounds of ATP per day! Found in the membranes of mitochondria, chloroplasts and bacteria, these paradigmatic enzymes harness the electrochemical energy that results from nutrient metabolism or light harvesting to power a turbine-like mechanism, through which they recycle the two by-products of ATP hydrolysis, ADP and inorganic phosphate, into brand-new ATP. Dr. Faraldo-Gomez will discuss recent breakthroughs in the structural characterization of these systems at the molecular and supramolecular level, and how his laboratory has leveraged this information with high-end computational biology methods to gain novel insights into the mechanism and evolution of these enzymes, and to help uncover an unexpected physiological role: defining the morphology of mitochondria.Air date: 6/22/2018 12:00:00 PM
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