Eugenia Mileykovskaya, Ph.D. 1976, Moscow State University The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Contact Information Biographical Sketch

Research Interests:

• Mitochondrial and bacterial membrane structure and function
• Bioenergetics
• Lipid-protein interaction
• Membrane dynamics
• Membrane domains
• Red-ox supercomplexes
• Bacterial division machinery
• Amphitropic proteins
• Phospholipids

Our research is directed at understanding the role phospholipids play in organization of membrane proteins into macro-molecular machines. This assumes membrane lateral heterogeneity and formation of the network of membrane lipid-protein domains. We are using two models, the highly specialized membrane of yeast mitochondria containing enzymes of oxidative phosphorylation system, and the multifunctional bacterial membrane. Using the first model we investigate the role of phospholipids, specifically cardiolipin, in organization of electron transfer enzymes into supercomplexes. The second model is employed to study interaction of phospholipids with the cytoskeletal proteins of bacterial division machinery. We investigate the mutual influence of amphitropic cell division proteins, which undergo dynamic polymerization on the membrane surface, and membrane phospholipids in the formation of dynamic lipid-protein domains.

Tutorial would provide experience with mitochondria and bacterial membrane isolation, integral and peripheral membrane proteins purification and reconstitution into liposomes, measurements of oxidative phosphorylation system enzyme activities, electrophoresis of native red-ox supercomplexes, spectroscopic techniques, sedimentation assays, as well as in vivo studies of dynamic localization of fluorescent labeled division proteins and phospholipids both in wild type organisms and their mutant derivatives.

Publications