Methanotrophs, bacteria that can metabolize methane, remain a promising solution to mitigating the effects of climate change by removing atmospheric methane and converting it to useful chemical precursors. However, a full understanding of the main enzyme they use to oxidize methane, particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO), is critical for harnessing their...
Mechanosensation is an essential behavior for cellular health that depends on the interactions between the plasma membrane and stretch-activated ion channels. To date, a few studies have measured the effect of membrane composition on protein behaviors from folding to function. However, the relationship between membrane mechanical properties and these behaviors...
Harnessing the metabolic potential of methanotrophic bacteria is a compelling strategy for the bioremediation of environmentally harmful methane gas. Methanotrophs can activate a 105 kcal/mol C-H bond in methane at ambient conditions using metalloenzymes called methane monooxygenases (MMOs). Particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO) is a copper-dependent, membrane-bound enzyme that is the...
Particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO) is a membrane-bound metalloenzyme that oxidizes methane to methanol in methanotrophic bacteria. The nature of the pMMO active site and the overall metal content are controversial, with spectroscopic and crystallographic data suggesting the presence of a mononuclear copper center, a dinuclear copper center, a trinuclear center,...