Biologists describe the structure and function of heme transport and assembly

Hemoglobin transports oxygen to tissues that need oxygen, while cytochrome carries electrons for energy conversion in cells

In a study published in the journal Nature Chemistry and Biology on December 20, scientists at Washington University in St.

"This new paper explains the structural basis of how the CcsBA machine works and reveals the main dynamic switches that occur during the heme transport cycle," Kranz said

This research was done in collaboration with James Fitzpatrick, Director of the Washington University Cell Imaging Center (WUCCI) School of Medicine, Professor of Neuroscience, Cell Biology and Physiology, Biomedical Engineering, Scientist and Structural Biologist, and Michael Law in his Team

Fitzpatrick said: "Cryogenic electron microscopy is a revolutionary technology that allows us to visualize the structural arrangement of a given protein at the near-atomic level, including the ability to sort out different conformations from a set of states

The cyro-EM data identified two states in which one or two heme molecules were bound

He said: "One of the coolest discoveries was that a large room was opened during the transport of heme

Co-first author Deanna L.

"In CcsBA, we observed a clear path between the transmembrane alpha helices, which allows heme to travel from the transmembrane-heme site to the external heme site," Mendez said

Co-first author Ethan Lowder (Ethan Lowder), a senior at the University of Washington, worked on this project for two years

"Solving the new structure of proteins is very difficult," Lowder said

The second author, Dustin Tillman, was an undergraduate at Washington University when he finished this work, and he played an important role in the purification of CcsBA

Kranz said: "I thank our talented undergraduate researchers for their contributions and participation in this research supported by nih

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Journal Reference :

1. Deanna L.