Three major areas of studies will be pursued during the current year. 1. The structure and function of lectins. The focus of this project will be on the specificity of lectins in terms of the oligosaccharide-structures recognized by lectins and on the biological role of lectins in their natural environment (soybean lectin in soybean, Con A in jackbean, corn lectin in corn and liver lectin in liver). 2. Posttranslational modification of proteins. Two aspects of this project will be studied this coming year; The N-acetylation of the amino-terminus of pancreatic alpha-amylase, and the formation and role of Se-cystein and Cys-S-sulfides in vivo. 3. Structure and Function of Enolases. This work will be continued with the sequencing of muscle enolase, with the potential X-ray crystallographic study of yeast, muscle and E. coli enolases and with the elucidation of the subunit interaction sites, the metal-binding sites and the catalytic sites of these enzymes.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter