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Prof. Dr. Panagiotis Kastritis

Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg

Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät I

Institut für Biochemie und Biotechnologie

Enzymopathies are genetic metabolic disorders due to missing or defective enzymes. Understanding enzyme structure, function, and interactions in their native cellular context is crucial. Enzymes in cells form metabolons, enhancing metabolic pathway efficiency. Grasping the molecular organization of these supercomplexes is challenging due to size and transience. Traditional structural biology methods illuminate individual enzymes but not their higher-order assembly and interfaces.

My research integrates structural, biophysical, biochemical, and biocomputational approaches to unravel the molecular architecture of metabolons, aiming to elucidate atomic-level mechanisms in cellular respiration. Ultimately, it offers insights into cell mechanisms, potentially explaining how protein subunits synchronize for specific functions. Supercomplexes offer new opportunities for targeted drug design by focusing on unique protein interfaces rather than individual subunit active sites.