Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 15, 2025

Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay EMSA for the Study of RNA-Protein Interactions: The IRE/IRP Example
Published on: December 3, 2014
Feedback regulation of iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis
Abstract:
Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters are ubiquitous cofactors in biological systems. Given their central role in bacterial metabolism and pathogenesis, the biogenesis of Fe-S clusters is tightly controlled. We reveal a feedback regulatory mechanism involving the sulfide producing SufS/SufU complex within the sulfur utilization (SUF) system of Mycobacterium tuberculosis , the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. In this mechanism, [2Fe-2S] clusters compete with zinc ions for binding to the sulfide transfer protein SufU. Cluster binding induces SufU tetramerization, which prevents its interaction with the cysteine desulfurase SufS, thereby inhibiting SufS activation and limiting sulfide supply for Fe-S cluster biogenesis. These findings uncover an unrecognized regulatory mechanism in M. tuberculosis , ensuring strict control of Fe-S cluster production.
Related Concept Videos
Sulfur Assimilation
Electron Transport Chain: Complex III and IV
Covalently Linked Protein Regulators
These groups modify specific amino acids in a protein....
Protein Modifications in the RER
Broadly, these modifications can be categorized into four main categories — glycosylation, formation of disulfide bonds, assembly of protein subunits, and specific proteolytic cleavages like removal of signal...
The Supercomplexes in the Crista Membrane
Electron Transport Chain: Complex I and II
ROS generation is regulated and maintained at moderate levels necessary...

