AI Summary
The research focuses on how magnesium atoms influence the chemistry that catalyzes the production of the energy molecule ATP in a cell. The study, led by Professor Magnus Wolf-Watz, examines the essential role of magnesium in the production of ATP by the enzyme adenylate kinase. Understanding this process can have broad implications for various biological processes, as ATP is involved in crucial functions such as muscle work, cellular transport, and bacterial infections. The discovery sheds light on previously unknown aspects of magnesium's involvement in ATP production.
An international research team led by Professor Magnus Wolf-Watz at UmeƄ University has discovered how the magnesium atom directs the chemistry that catalyzes the production of the energy molecule ATP in a cell. The study is published in the journal Science Advances.
“Our discovery can have a wide impact for understanding a variety of biological processes because the ATP molecule is involved in everything from muscle work and transport in and out of cells to bacterial infections,” says Magnus Wolf-Watz, Professor at the Department of Chemistry at UmeĆ„ University.
For biological life to exist at all, cells are in constant need of continuous and large access to their fuel and signaling molecule, ATP. One of the biochemical systems that produces ATP is the essential enzyme adenylate kinase, which catalyzes the production of ATP from the building blocks ADP and AMP.
The enzyme is dependent on the metal magnesium to be able to produce large amounts of ATP. It is already known that magnesium catalyzes the chemical reactions of the ATP molecule through electrostatic effects, but this is not enough for the chemical reactions involving ATP to go fast enough. Speed is extremely important.
Now, an international research team led by Magnus Wolf-Watz at the Department of Chemistry at UmeĆ„ University has developed a method to find out previously unknown aspects of magnesium’s