Professor Brian D. Cain earned his Ph. D. in cell biology from the University of Illinois in 1983. His graduate work focused on phospholipid metabolism and cell cycle dependent assembly of the photosynthetic membranes of Rhodobacter sphaeroides. He was a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Robert Simoni's laboratory at Stanford University. While at Stanford, he initiated studies on F1F0 ATP synthase which lead to recognition that the a subunit houses most of the proton channel. In 1988, Dr. Cain joined the faculty of the University of Florida. He served on the NIH Physical Biochemistry Study Section from 1997-2001 and was its Chairman for the last two years. He is presently a member of the American Cancer Society-Florida Peer Review Committee, and a member of the Editorial Board of The Journal of Biological Chemistry. |
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Our research centers on the structure, function and regulation of proton translocation ATPases. One project is a collaborative effort with Dr. Charles Wingo (Medicine) focusing on the mammalian renal H,K-ATPases. We discovered that at least three different H,K-ATPases exist in the rabbit kidney. Ongoing work is aimed at analyzing H,K-ATPase gene expression and achieving functional expression in tissue culture cells. The second project investigates the F1F0 ATP synthase of E. coli. Research focuses on the organization of the F0 subunits, the mechanism of proton conduction across the membrane, and the coupling of proton movement to ATP synthesis. We use a combination of site-directed mutagenesis, bacterial genetics and enzymology to look at the mechanism of enzyme function. |
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