III – Why do we study it?

- Electron transfer chains are part of the central metabolism aiming the production of ATP. A complete knowledge of their mechanisms, both as isolated complexes and in the cells, is essential to understand the malfunctions in respiratory complexes, which lead to several health-related disorders, such as Leigh syndrome, paraganglioma and Leber optic atrophy (LHON). One of the ways in which malfunctioning of respiratory complexes may lead to disorders is through the concerted production of reactive oxygen species, such as superoxide, hydroxyl radicals or hydrogen peroxide, and of reactive nitrogen species, as nitric oxide and peroxynitrite.

- Our interests cover also the other face of the coin, i.e., the prokaryotic responses against the cytotoxic effects of reactive oxidative and/or nitrosative species, generated as a defense mechanism by the immune systems of eukaryotes facing pathogenic invasion. In this sense, if the target proteins of our interest - superoxide reductases and flavodiiron nitric oxide reductases – are established as major components of the pathogenic counter-response mechanisms, our final goal will be to find tolerable inhibitors of these enzymes, ultimately leading to drug design.

- Apart from the mentioned potential implications of our work, we aim to an understanding of the evolutional events that determine variability in the components of multi-enzymatic systems and their functional and structural features, either in respiratory complexes or the detoxifying enzymes for reactive oxidative/nitrosative species. Hence why we study these systems from such diverse organisms, from Archaea to Bacteria, and also Protozoa.