Fully funded PhD-thesis: Coproheme – a naturally occurring cofactor?

You (most often) cannot find something you are not looking for. Coproheme – a naturally occurring cofactor? This is the title of this PhD-thesis and also highlights the main question we want to answer. In this work coproheme will be tested as a cofactor in well-described heme enzymes. Further, hints will be followed up to test if coproheme is actually used by nature as a prosthetic group. The outcome of this work will tell if we have to fundamentally change our understanding of porphyrin and heme biology.

The work will include:

Production and characterization of coproheme enzymes and variants

molecular biological methods: cloning, site directed mutagenesis

protein expression (E.coli) and purification methods

spectroscopic methods: UV-vis, stopped-flow spectroscopy, CD, EPR, RR

steady-state and pre-steady-state kinetics (polarographic/spectroscopic)

protein crystallography and structure determination