Dr. Tai-Yen Chen
By Rachael Beardsley
NQPI Editorial Intern
University of Houston chemistry professor Dr. Tai-Yen Chen discussed the single-molecule dissection of vitamin B12 during its interaction with adenosyltransferase (ATR) on Sept. 19 as part of the Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute seminar series.
Chen found that the enzyme ATR helps transfer the active B12 coenzyme, a vitamin involved in the metabolism of every cell in the human body, to MCM, another enzyme critical for DNA replication and cell division.
“B12 is an important nutrient for the body and especially for the function of the mitochondria,” Chen said. “Even though people have good understanding of this general process, the B12 mechanism is still missing, so a single-molecule dissection system provides a very unique perspective.”
Chen and his team developed a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based, single-molecule approach to quantify the binding and unbinding kinetics between the B12 coenzyme and ATR. He said that the understanding of this protein’s interaction can be applied to many other biological systems.
“We can really figure out B12 and the protein action quantitatively, and then we can provide the mechanic insight about how these things are happening which we believe is actually beneficial for its functions,” Chen said.
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