Abstract
For more than 50 years, the use of X-ray crystallography has been crucial to elucidate the three-dimensional structure of all kind of macromolecules, allowing to understand their mechanism, behavior and interactions with other molecules. This approach has proven to be of special interest for its application for biomedical and biotechnological purposes.
In this talk I will focus on several different biological problems that I have faced mainly by the use of this technique, including key enzymes in the synthesis and degradation of S. pneumoniae cell wall, a pneumococcal choline-binding protein involved in host-pathogen interactions and the mechanism underlying the transfer of electrons and translocation of protons in T. thermophilus complex I across the respiratory chain. Finally, two biotechnological problems involving a sterol esterase from the yeast O. piceae and an artificial metallolipase from G. thermocatenulatus will be briefly discussed.