Prof. Craig Gatto, PhD

The active transport of ions across cell membranes is performed by P-type ATPases. These are integral membrane proteins which use the energy of hydrolysis of ATP to pump ions across biological membranes. The mechanism by which these proteins couple ATP hydrolysis to ion transport is one of the central interests of the laboratory. My laboratory focuses on structure-function studies, molecular mechanism, assembly and subcellular trafficking of these important transporters. P-type pumps are tansiently phosphorylated from ATP and transport alkali metals (e.g. Na+, K+, H+, Ca2+) as well as heavy metals (e.g Cu2+ and Cd2+). Members of this protein superfamily are represented across all phyla.