Membrane pockets that gain catalytic activity upon self-assembly shed light on biological enzymatic processes
Friday, June 10, 2011 - 10:00
in Biology & Nature
Biological membranes play key roles in the body. They determine, for example, how molecules enter and exit cells, and the architecture of their lipid bilayer allows them to host enzymes and enhance their catalytic performance under natural conditions. To clarify the mechanisms that govern these processes, a team of chemists in Japan has generated in water tiny, catalytically active, free-standing membrane pockets, called vesicles, using a self-assembly method based on a small palladium complex. The team was led by Yasuhiro Uozumi from the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute in Wako and the Institute for Molecular Science in Okazaki.