Researchers unlock secrets of cell-level energy production
In New York, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have improved models of the mechanism by which food is converted into the energy required by cells. Discoveries of this order open up opportunities for synthetic biologists to optimize or develop more efficient processes for the conversion of inputs to biofuel outputs.
The researchers’ findings were published in the August issue of PLoS Biology. Cells use the enzyme ATP synthase to generate a chemical called ATP, the form of energy cells use to function. Structurally, ATP synthase is a nano-machine, a cellular “motor” that consists of proton turbines, or rotor rings, with the output being ATP. The researchers were surprised to find that these ATP synthase rotor rings use a water molecule as part of the rotary mechanism of ATP synthesis, providing a clearer understanding of how these nano-machines function.
With this new insight, they were able to infer how ATP synthase captures the protons that drive the rotation of the “motor” and visualize how those protons remain bound to the rotor.
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