Funding through the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Structure of the MoaC hexamer. This enzyme is involved in the initial stage of molybdenum cofactor biosynthesis. The left side shows a ribbon diagram, the right side a space filling representation.
Different shades indicate the different subunits.
Research in our laboratory is aimed at understanding the structural features of enzymes and the detailed aspects of their catalytic mechanism. One major research area is focused on enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of the molybdenum cofactor. This is an evolutionary conserved pathway also present in humans. Deficiencies of enzymes in this pathway lead to a severe and deadly disease in humans. We are also studying enzymes involved in ubiquitin-dependent protein degradation, considering the initial step of ubiquitin activation and the final step of substrate identification.