Membrane Transporters Beyond Crystal Structures: Dynamics and Thermodynamics of Glutamate Transporters

OLGA BOUDKER, CORNELL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Glutamate transporters are responsible for clearance of the neurotransmitter glutamate from the synaptic cleft following rounds of neurotransmission. They maintain steep concentration gradients of glutamate by coupling its uptake to symport of sodium ions and protons and to antiport of potassium ions. We have been investigating the molecular mechanism of this family of transporters using an archaeal homologue GltPh as a model system. For GltPh, we not only obtained the crystal structures of key states along the transport cycle, but also probed the dynamics and thermodynamics that define the rates of substrate uptake and the mechanism of coupling the uptake to movements of ions.

June 4th, 2015 at 12:15 PM in Clark Center Seminar Room S360

Hosted by:

Peter S. Kim, Professor of Biochemistry, Stanford University

Pre-Seminar June 1st, 2015 at 12:15 PM in Clark S361