Heme copper oxygen reductases (HCOs) are key enzymes for aerobic respiration. As a terminal electron acceptor, HCO catalyzes the sequential transfer of four electrons from reduced cytochromes c on the P-side of the membrane, ...

Nitric oxide reductase (NOR) is a membrane-bound metalloenzyme in the denitrification pathway of many bacteria. NORs are structurally homologous to subunit I of HCOs (heme-copper oxidases); however, the copper site (CuB) ...

Gram negative and positive bacteria have evolved toxins to aid in their ability to colonize host organisms. Some gram-positive bacteria produce exotoxins called superantigens that hyper-stimulate the immune system by ...

Novel oxygen reactivity is observed in our model protein (CuBMb) which reproduces the most essential components of HCO active site. In order to improve this artificial model to inhibit its side reaction with oxygen and ...

Since the discovery of nucleic acid enzymes and aptamers that can perform functional roles other than storing genetic information; a new paradigm in nucleic acid chemistry has been opened. In 1990 the first artificially ...

Beyond the function of carrying genetic information, the recognition function (DNA aptamers), the structural function (DNA origami and DNA nanodevices), and most interestingly, the catalytic function (deoxyribozymes or ...

Protein engineering by rational design has been used to study heme proteins and artificial Mn-salen containing metalloenzymes using heme protein scaffolds. Heme proteins perform a wide variety of functions including the ...

In summary, a means to investigate the specific function of individual metal ligand residues in azurin and CuA azurin by using EPL to incorporate nonproteinogenic amino acid analogues has been demonstrated. This work has ...

The bc1 complex of the electron transport chain is critical to production of ATP through the proton gradient driven by quinone oxidation; a ubiquitous mechanism for energy conversion throughout the biosphere. In addition ...

Pre-mRNA splicing in plants is mechanistically the same as splicing in other eukaryotes, but its mode of intron recognition is unique. Whereas in animals a pyrimidine-tract contributes to the definition of exons, in plants, ...