Biochemistry, University of Toronto

Atomic model for the membrane-embedded motor of a eukaryotic V-ATPase

Proton pumping region of rotary ATPases revealed

3 November 2016|

In work led by postdoctoral fellow Mohammad T. Mazhab-Jafari, the Rubinstein laboratory used electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) to determine the atomic structure of the membrane-bound region of a eukaryotic V-ATPase. This study, which was published in Nature, gives the first high-resolution structure for the membrane region of any rotary ATPase, a family of enzymes that includes proton pumping V-ATPases and proton-driven ATP synthases. The structure reveals several surprising features of […]

An image of an atomic model of a ubiquitinated and dimethylated histone core particle with bound 53BP1 built into a cryo-EM density map.

Seeing the first steps of DNA repair

2 August 2016|

The laboratories of John Rubinstein and Frank Sicheri (Biochemistry), and Dan Durocher (Molecular Genetics) have used electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) to determine the structure of the DNA-damage recognizing protein 53BP1 bound to modified nucleosome core particles. The work, published in Nature (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature18951.html), was led by postdoctoral fellow Marcus Wilson and research associate Samir Benlekbir and provides the first structural insight into how dimethylation and ubiquitination of nucleosomes in […]

The photo shows Scott Prosser, Oliver Ernst, and senior research scientists, Libin Ye and Ned van Eps, discussing recent results in the lab.

Understanding the Molecular Underpinnings of Cell Signaling through GPCRs

17 May 2016|

A class of receptors responsible for regulating neuronal function is part of the focus of a recent study by the Prosser and Ernst labs at UofT. Their paper, “Activation of the A2A adenosine G-protein-coupled receptor by conformational selection,” appears in the latest edition of the journal Nature http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature17668.html.

There is a great deal of interest in understanding this broad class of cell signaling receptors called GPCRs (G-Protein-coupled receptors), which are responsible for basic processes such […]

Image of Solute Carriers Keep on Rockin’

Nature News and Views Article by Moraes and Reithmeier

14 October 2015|

Trevor Moraes and Reinhart Reithmeier discuss SLC26 transporters in a News & Views article published in the October 6, 2015 issue of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology entitled “ Solute Carriers Keep on Rockin’ ”. The 400 members of the human solute carriers (SLC) remain among the most poorly characterized of human gene families, although they are essential for nutrient uptake, waste removal and ion transport. Furthermore, mutations in the genes […]

News & Views "Structural biology: Arresting developments in receptor signalling” by Jeffrey Benovic.

Ernst lab contributes DEER spectroscopy to Nature paper on rhodopsin-arrestin complex structure

6 August 2015|

The GPCR-arrestin complex crystal structure was solved using data collected at the Stanford LCLS X-ray free electron laser. Ned van Eps and Lydia Caro from the Ernst lab used pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to validate the rhodopsin–arrestin complex assembly. The study published online 22 July 2015 in Nature has been downloaded more than 22,000 times in the first week after publication.

Warren Lee interviewed by CTV on flu treatment findings

12 June 2015|

Dr. Warren Lee, critical care physician and cell biologist with St. Michael’s Hospital, teamed up with drug researchers at Sunnybrook Hospital to test Vasculotide, a new drug treatment that prevents lung blood vessels from leaking when attacked by the flu virus. Previous flu drugs attempt to defeat the virus while Vasculotide successfully treats the host.

The research findings are published in Scientific Reports and announced in […]

Rubinstein Lab captures V-ATPase images, paper published in Nature

19 May 2015|

V-ATPases are proton pumps that control the pH in many compartments within cells. V-ATPase activity is critical for the immune system (where acidic compartments in cells are used to destroy invading bacteria), cell growth (where compartments with different pHs are needed for molecules to be built and destroyed), the transmission of signals in the brain (where V-ATPases are needed to load packets of neurotransmitters that are deposited between neurons), […]

Nature