Ekmageion

Citation

Stowell, Michael H. B (1997) Ekmageion. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/y2zf-he43. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechTHESIS:07112025-210052342

Abstract

Membrane proteins compose roughly 30% of the proteins in a living organism. Furthermore, they are the essential link between the outside world and the cell. A large number of important processes occur in the biological membranes; these include the production of cellular energy, the transmission of nerve impulses, and the perception of light and sound. Knowledge of how these systems are constructed and how they function is critical to understanding the biological world around us as well as ourselves. The studies presented herein were aimed at gaining an understanding of such systems through the combination of both structural and functional analysis of these systems. The results presented here are the author's efforts to understand such systems and in the process develop methods and techniques which help others understand such systems or related ones. This thesis is divided into two sections. The first section is devoted solely to the investigation of membrane proteins. An introductory discussion on the structure and stability of membrane proteins is presented followed by studies on the photosynthetic reaction center, succinate:quinone oxidoreductase, cytochrome c oxidase, and the development of methods for studying rapid electron transfer in ubiquinone:cytochrome-c oxidoreductases and ubiquinol oxidases. The second section is a compilation of theoretical, methodological, synthetic, and biophysical studies. These include the development of MIRAS phasing methods using xenon gas, facile synthetic methods for benzoin compounds, development of universal photoreduction compounds, theoretical models for proton pumping mechanisms in ubiquinol oxidases, and structural studies on a leucine-rich repeat variant protein.

Thesis Files