Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
Content archived on 2024-05-27

Structural and functional characterization of molecular nanomachines: principles of transition metal selectivity and transport in heavy metal P1B-type ATPases

Objective

Cellular concentrations of transition metals are tightly regulated to a necessary balance to satisfy essential requirements for the activity of fundamental biochemical processes and avoid toxic levels which would impair cell survival. P1B-type ATPases are a family of membrane ion pumps which utilize the energy generated by ATP hydrolysis to drive the selective heavy metal translocation across the cellular membrane against the electrochemical gradient. Although playing a pivotal role in regulating the concentrations of essential physiological metal elements (e.g: Cu, Zn) and toxic transition metals (e.g.: Cd, Pb), the mechanism by which these molecular machines perform their function are not understood in detail. The proposed project aims to reveal at a molecular level the principles and determinants for heavy metal selectivity, metal binding geometry, metal translocation pathway, and energy transduction processes in energy-driven metal transport in P1B-type ATPases. A complementary X-ray crystallographic and biochemical approach will be developed in order to obtain a molecular understanding of the three-dimensional structure and the function of prokaryotic P1B-type ATPases. The final goal is to reveal how these molecular machines convert the energy stored in ATP into conformational changes which result into directional transport of heavy metal across the lipid bilayer. Elucidating the mechanism of transition metal transport across biological membranes accomplished by P1B-type ATPases will shed light on an essential biochemical process conserved in all the kingdoms of life and will provide the bases for the future rational design of modulators of P1B-type ATPase activity.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IOF
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MC-IOF - International Outgoing Fellowships (IOF)

Coordinator

AARHUS UNIVERSITET
EU contribution
€ 278 903,10
Address
NORDRE RINGGADE 1
8000 Aarhus C
Denmark

See on map

Region
Danmark Midtjylland Østjylland
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data
My booklet 0 0