28-11-2025
Carolina Videira presented her master’s thesis entitled "Structural and functional studies of the drug metabolizing enzyme, human aldehyde oxidase". This work was carried out within UCIBIO, involving the Macromolecular Crystallography Lab (DQ) and the Infection Biology Lab (DCV).
Her research focused on elucidating the physiological role of human aldehyde oxidase (hAOX1) and on conducting structural studies to better understand the drug reduction mechanism carried out by this enzyme. Using Fluorescence microscopy, the study revealed the subcellular localization of hAOX1 in HeLa cells and a Yeast-Two-Hybrid screening identified several potential interacting partners, suggesting the involvement of this enzyme in different metabolic pathways. The structural studies allowed the optimization of new crystallization conditions and the characterization of protein complexes with substrates and inhibitors by X-ray crystallography. These results disclosed a previously unrecognized reduction mechanism. Overall, this study provides new cellular and molecular insights into hAOX1 physiological function and establishes a structural framework that may guide future studies into the reduction mechanism catalysed by this enzyme.
Congratulations, Carolina!
