Robust Enzymes

Cells must produce energy despite changing conditions. But what keeps metabolic enzymes functional during temperature fluctuations? A team led by CSaS Professor Simon Ebbinghaus and Dr. Harshita Rastogi at Ruhr University Bochum investigated this question using phosphofructokinase-1 platelet isoform, a central enzyme in glucose metabolism. They found that thermal protection depends less on the size of crowding molecules than on the subtle chemical interactions among them, which can determine how well the enzyme remains active as temperatures rise. Their work was published in the current edition of the scientific journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 

Press release RUB