Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CTL (Characterization of the molecular mechanism behind CTL - the major choline uptake system in eukaryotes)
Reporting period: 2020-05-01 to 2022-04-30
The choline transporter-like (CTL) family forms a unique class of membrane transporters with five family members, that facilitate the majority of choline uptake in all eukaryotes. With no direct homologies to other transporter families, protein structures, especially with bound substrate, are of utmost importance to understand how this enigmatic transporter class facilitates substrate transport. Therefore, the overall objectives of this project were the structural, functional and biochemical characterization of CTL proteins.
Further sample analysis was conducted using biochemical and structural methods. Uptake assays for instance, were performed using xenopus oocytes expressing CTL proteins. Radioactive compounds were presented to the oocytes and uptake was measured by quantifying the radioactivity that was accumulated inside the oocytes.