2009/07/21
Researchers from CIC bioGUNE and Columbia University conduct joint research into a metabolic enzyme that causes genetic diseases.
Researchers from CIC bioGUNE's Structural Biology Unit and Columbia University (New York) have conducted a joint research project, published in the prestigious scientific journal 'Structure', to gain in-depth knowledge of the structure of pyruvate carboxylase when it is in solution (in the "natural" state).
Pyruvate carboxylase is a metabolic enzyme that plays a fundamental role in the metabolism of fatty acids (the components of fats) and sugars. When its function is not adequately performed (for example, when mutations in the gene arise) diverse metabolic diseases of genetic origin are triggered, amongst them lactic acidaemia, hypoglycaemia, and psycho-motor retardation. At the same time, being at a metabolic crossroads, pyruvate carboxylase is potentially a target in obesity and diabetes treatments.
The paper presents the enzyme's structure under physiological conditions for the first time, and reveals which of the previous models is the correct one.
"This is the start of a highly ambitious study which is being carried out at CIC bioGUNE and which aims to discover the functioning of pyruvate carboxylase. This we shall achieve by observing its structure throughout its functional cycle, in the hope of discovering its structure in each of the steps it follows during its functioning", explains Mikel Valle, a researcher from CIC bioGUNE's Structural Biology Unit who has jointly led this research project from the centre in Derio.
The project has been conducted together with the New York Structural Biology Center (NYSBC). Set up in 2002, this Center uses the most advanced Molecular Magnetic Resonance imaging, Electron Microscopy, and X-ray crystallography equipment (as does CIC bioGUNE's Structural Biology Unit). In this joint research project, the NYSBC took charge of the X-ray crystallography part, while CIC bioGUNE's Structural Biology Unit has undertaken the Electron Microscopy part.
Amongst the numerous research institutions which participate in the NYSBC, most of them from New York City, are Columbia University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Columbia University is the doyenne of New York's universities and has the largest number of students (275,000). Its standing in fields such as the sciences and humanities is indisputable. 9 current faculty members are Nobel Laureates, out of a total of 78 faculty members and alumni who have achieved this distinction. This university's research programme extends to 1,600 researchers and has an annual budget of around 800 million dollars.
This joint research project has done a lot to achieve international recognition for CIC bioGUNE's Structural Biology Unit, in the sense that, as Mikel Valle describes, "it enables us to get a foothold in international research and may lead us to new research partners and sources of funding." "From a scientist's point of view it's always good to work with first-rate researchers", says Valle.