EPR, CYP450, spectroscopy, catalysis, enzyme

Antonino Famulari was born in Messina, Sicily, Italy. He obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Messina, Italy. In both, he worked on organic synthesis centred in the production of glucosidic Oligo(Phenylene-Ethynylene)s biocompatible photosensitizers that may be applied in photodynamic therapy. Currently, he’s a joint PhD student at the University of Zaragoza and Turin under the PARACAT project. His research interest within the PARACAT project focuses on understanding the reaction mechanism and the nature of reactive intermediates of cytochromes P450 in two bacterial model enzymes: the CYP102A1 and the CYP116B5. They exhibit a different hydroxylation pathway from each other and one of them, the CYP116B5, is particularly appealing from the biocatalytic point of view since no expensive electron source donor and reduction partners are necessary to carry out the reaction.