giant unilamellar vesicle; eukaryotic membrane transport; oxidative phosphorylation; lateral proton transfer; sugar transport; ATP synthesis; fluorescence microscopy
Deutschmann Sabina, Rimle Lukas, Ballmoos Christoph (2022), Rapid Estimation of Membrane Protein Orientation in Liposomes, in
ChemBioChem, 23(2), e202100543.
Graf Simone Sandra, Hong Sangjin, Müller Philipp, Gennis Robert, von Ballmoos Christoph (2021), Energy transfer between the nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase and ATP synthase of Escherichia coli, in
Scientific Reports, 11(1), 21234-21234.
Nuber F, Schimpf J, di Rago JP, Tribouillard-Tanvier D, Procaccio V, Martin-Negrier ML, Trimouille A, Biner O, von Ballmoos c, Friedrich T (2021), Biochemical consequences of two clinically relevant ND-gene mutations in Escherichia coli respiratory complex I., in
Scientific reports, 11(1), 12641.
Amati Andrea Marco, Graf Simone, Deutschmann Sabina, Dolder Nicolas, von Ballmoos Christoph (2020), Current problems and future avenues in proteoliposome research, in
Biochemical Society Transactions, 48(4), 1473.
Bruggisser Julia, Tarek Basma, Wyder Marianne, Müller Philipp, von Ballmoos Christoph, Witz Guillaume, Enzmann Gaby, Deutsch Urban, Engelhardt Britta, Posthaus Horst (2020), CD31 (PECAM-1) Serves as the Endothelial Cell-Specific Receptor of Clostridium perfringens β-Toxin, in
Cell Host {&} Microbe, 28(1), 69.
Sjöstrand Dan, Högbom Martin, Ballmoos Christoph (2020), Membrane‐Bound Superoxide Oxidase, in
Encyclopedia of Inorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry, 1-10.
Dolder Nicolas, Ballmoos Christoph (2020), Bifunctional DNA Duplexes Permit Efficient Incorporation of pH Probes into Liposomes, in
ChemBioChem, 21(15), 2219-2224.
Toth Alexandra, Meyrat Axel, Stoldt Stefan, Santiago Ricardo, Wenzel Dirk, Jakobs Stefan, von Ballmoos Christoph, Ott Martin (2020), Kinetic coupling of the respiratory chain with ATP synthase, but not proton gradients, drives ATP production in cristae membranes, in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(5), 2412-2421.
Graf Simone, Brzezinski Peter, von Ballmoos Christoph (2019), The proton pumping bo oxidase from Vitreoscilla, in
Scientific Reports, 9(1), 4766.
Meyrat Axel, von Ballmoos Christoph (2019), ATP synthesis at physiological nucleotide concentrations, in
Scientific Reports, 9(1), 3070.
Lundgren Camilla A. K., Sjöstrand Dan, Biner Olivier, Bennett Matthew, Rudling Axel, Johansson Ann-Louise, Brzezinski Peter, Carlsson Jens, von Ballmoos Christoph, Högbom Martin (2018), Scavenging of superoxide by a membrane-bound superoxide oxidase, in
Nature Chemical Biology, 14(8), 788-793.
Biner Olivier, Schick Thomas, Ganguin Aymar Abel, von Ballmoos Christoph (2018), Towards a Synthetic Mitochondrion, in
CHIMIA International Journal for Chemistry, 72(5), 291-296.
Sjöholm Johannes, Bergstrand Jan, Nilsson Tobias, Šachl Radek, von Ballmoos Christoph, Widengren Jerker, Brzezinski Peter (2017), The lateral distance between a proton pump and ATP synthase determines the ATP-synthesis rate, in
Scientific Reports, 7(1), 2926.
Belevich Nikolai, von Ballmoos Christoph, Verkhovskaya Marina (2017), Activation of Proton Translocation by Respiratory Complex I, in
Biochemistry, 56(42), 5691-5697.
Poiana Federica, Ballmoos Christoph von, Gonska Nathalie, Blomberg Margareta R. A., Ädelroth Pia, Brzezinski Peter (2017), Splitting of the O–O bond at the heme-copper catalytic site of respiratory oxidases, in
Sciences Advances, 3(6), 1.
Biological membranes play vital roles in all living organisms. They build a protective barrier with very limited permeability between different cellular components or to the extracellular space, and also actively participate in cellular processes. Transport of biological molecules (e.g. ions, nutrients, and neurotransmitter) across theses membranes are mediated and controlled by membrane proteins (MPs). In contrast to their soluble counter-parts, MPs are insoluble in aqueous solution until detergent is added, and for measuring transmembrane transport activities, they have to be embedded back into a membrane mimetic system. Our laboratory works with several MPs that are either involved in energy conservation or membrane transport of ions and solutes. Typically, we use a bottom-up process, reassembling a functional unit from purified components to understand the mechanistic details and cellular function.With the proposed experiments, we want to investigate both mechanical and technical aspects of a subset of these MPs. In Part A, we use methodologies that we developed over the last two years to reconstitute eukaryotic fructose (glut5) and glutamate transporter (vglut2) into giant unilamellar vesicles. Their functionality will be assessed by fluorescence microscopy assays, which we aim to develop here. This method requires very small amounts of proteins, which is ideal for eukaryotic proteins, where expression and purification is often cumbersome and pure protein is precious. With the results of this project, we hope to contribute experimental procedures that are attractive for many researchers in basic and applied research (e.g. drug screening). In part B, we propose kinetic experiments which are aimed to decipher the mechanistic details of proton transport and ATP synthesis during oxidative phosphorylation. In particular, we try to understand the role of the membrane during proton shuttling between cytochrome oxidase and ATP synthase. We recently have found that in isolated systems, membrane localized proton transfer between the two enzymes occurs, if the average distance between proton donor and acceptor is below a certain threshold, and that the average distance is affected by the lipid composition. Using rapid kinetic and spectroscopic techniques, we aim to understand the mechanistic details of this phenomenon, which could be universal for all energy conserving membranes. Furthermore, we aim to use electrochemical tools to quantitatively assess the efficiency of energy coupling between respiration and ATP synthesis in a minimal energy converting system.