Molecular Mechanisms of Gene Regulation: CopY - a Copper Responsive Repressor

Copper is an essential yet toxic trace elements for all living cells. Therefore there must be a regulatory system controlling the copper levels inside the cells at all times while providing the cell with the copper it needs. One element of this homeostatic system is a copper-responsive repressor that regulates the expression of the copper-handling proteins by binding/releasing the DNA - dependent on the copper level in the cell. The aim of this project is to understand the molecular mechanism of this process by a variety of biophysical techniques, mainly NMR-spectroscopy. (Kristian R. Poulsen, Reinhard Wimmer, Steffen B. Petersen, Section of Biotechnology; Marc Solioz, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Bern, Switzerland)