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Chikashi Toyoshima, University of Tokyo: "What is the activation signal for phosphoryl transfer in the calcium pump? – Lessons from recent studies of Ca-ATPase structures"
2019.09.27 |
| Date | Mon 07 Oct |
| Time | 11:00 — 12:00 |
| Location | Small Anatomy auditorium, Building 1231-424 (4th floor) |
On October 8, Chikashi Toyoshima will be inaugurated as an Honorary Skou Professor, motivated by his outstanding contribution to the research in ion transporting ATPases, which has been a central theme at Aarhus University, since the discovery of the Na,K-ATPase by our late Nobel Laureate Jens Christian Skou in 1957.
In 2000, Toyoshima published the first high-resolution crystal structure of a member of the P-type ATPase family, the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase, revealing for the first time the location of the bound calcium ions in the protein. In the following years, he determined the structures of several Ca-ATPase intermediate forms of the reaction cycle, thereby allowing understanding of the transport process at atomic level.
In 2009 and 2013 Toyoshima published – in collaboration with scientists from Aarhus University, Health – high resolution crystal structures of the Na,K-ATPase in the respective K- and Na-bound forms, thus providing fundamental key insight in how the enzyme distinguishes Na from K, so that these ions are pumped in opposite directions. Jens Christian Skou’s comment was: "It is an impressive achievement and something I haven't even dared dreaming of". The picture of Toyoshima and Jens Chr. Skou was taken in 2013.
Kind regards,
Bente Vilsen
Skou Professor Champion