Biology subjects

Gabelli, S. B.

Publications and source records attributed to Gabelli, S. B..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

ATP synthase K+- and H+-flux drive ATP synthesis and enable mitochondrial K+-uniporter function

ATP synthase (F1Fo) synthesizes daily our bodys weight in ATP, whose production-rate can be transiently increased several-fold. Using purified mammalian F1Fo-reconstituted proteoliposomes and isolated mitochondria, we show that F1Fo utilizes both H+- and K+-transport (because of >106-fold K+ excess vs H+) to drive ATP synthesis with the H+:K+ permeability of ~106:1. F1Fo can be upregulated by endogenous survival-related proteins (Bcl-xL, Mcl-1) and synthetic molecules (diazoxide, pinacidil) to increase its chemo-mechanical efficiency via IF1. Increasing K+- and H+-driven ATP synthesis enables F1Fo to operate as a primary mitochondrial K+-uniporter regulating energy supply-demand matching, and as the recruitable mitochondrial KATP-channel that can limit ischemia-reperfusion injury. Isolated mitochondria in the presence of K+ can sustain ~3.5-fold higher ATP-synthesis-flux (vs K+ absence) driven by a 2.7:1 K+:H+ stoichiometry with unaltered OxPhos coupling. Excellent agreement between F1Fo single-molecule and intact-mitochondria experiments is consistent with K+-transport through ATP synthase driving a major fraction of ATP synthesis.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2017

Intracellular production of hydrogels and synthetic RNA granules by multivalent enhancers

Non-membrane bound, hydrogel-like entities, such as RNA granules, nucleate essential cellular functions through their unique physico-chemical properties. However, these intracellular hydrogels have not been as extensively studied as their extracellular counterparts, primarily due to technical challenges in probing these materials in situ. Here, by taking advantage of a chemically inducible dimerization paradigm, we developed iPOLYMER, a strategy for rapid induction of protein-based hydrogels inside living cells. A series of biochemical and biophysical characterizations, in conjunction with computational modeling, revealed that the polymer network formed in the cytosol resembles a physiological hydrogel-like entity that behaves as a size-dependent molecular sieve. We studied several properties of the gel and functionalized it with RNA binding motifs that sequester polyadenine-containing nucleotides to synthetically mimic RNA granules. Therefore, we here demonstrate that iPOLYMER presents a unique and powerful approach to synthetically reconstitute hydrogel-like structures including RNA granules in intact cells.

synthetic biology↗