Genre: Information/Explanation

Scientific Motivation : We will determine representative structures of human members from protein families of importance in different metabolic routes . These pathways comprise synthesis and catabolism of lipids , steroids , retinoids , carbohydrates , nucleotides , cofactors and amino acids . A major focus is on oxidoreductases of different superfamilies , but other selected enzymes or binding proteins are targeted as well . Proteins from different classes involved in synthetic and catabolic routes of the building blocks mentioned above are involved in a large array of inherited diseases , hence structural analysis will give insights into their molecular mechanisms . Furthermore , several enzymes involved in these metabolic pathways constitute drug targets for the treatment of a variety of metabolic disorders , such as diabetes , osteoporosis and in oncology therapy . Techniques Used : This biology group is responsible for functional expression , characterization , crystallization and structure determination of targets described above . Together with the biotechnology , biophysical and x-ray teams we will process the targets and determine their structures , with overlapping and integrated activities among the teams . Techniques employed are primarily development of heterologous expression systems and purification strategies , development of functional assays , crystallization , and furthermore functional analysis by biophysical methods ( mainly spectroscopy , but also mass spectrometry , microcalorimetry and analytical ultracentrifugation ) .