The Basque Biociencias Biogune Research Center is the only Spanish scientific entity selected in the International Human Frontier Science Science Program (HFSPO) research program, in its 2016 call.
Together with an international research consortium, Spanish scientists will study for the next three years the physiology and metabolism of hummingbirds, which will help to know the metabolic enzymes that cause this tiny bird to develop so much energy.
The project, called the optimization of the metabolic flow in the hummingbird: of the enzymes to the ecology and that has a financing of the HFSPO of 1,055,000 euros, is based on finding out how the metabolism of the hummingies works, which is very accelerated andIt has a great capacity to store and burn fat quickly.For Mikel Valle, a Doctor of Molecular Biology and responsible for the project at CIC Biogune, this bird is a "metabolic athlete."
"The origin of its energy can be found in some of the common metabolic enzymes in all animals, but in the hummingbirds they have adapted to work in a different way," Valle explains.
The enzymes that will be analyzed within the project are in the center of metabolism and are involved in the regulation of energy.Its functions are related to production and burning of fat and sugars, so research can provide interesting data of some metabolic enzymes related to human diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and cancer.
Compare the enzymes of hummingbirds and other mammals
The work of the Basque Center will focus on studying the structure of the enzymes by cryo-electronic microscopy.The work essentially consists of freezing the samples at very low temperatures, observing them in the microscope and obtaining their 3D structure through computer techniques.
The comparison of the enzymes of the hummingbirds with those of other organisms will contribute greater knowledge about the special characteristics of the metabolism of this bird, which reaches 70 flutters per second and is able to perform long -distance migrations, despite its small size, between five and six centimeters.
To achieve financing, the hummingbird metabolism project has competed with another 672 research proposals presented to the 2016 call for the HFSPO aid program, and has been selected in fifth place.
In the 2016 call, winning researchers are located in 20 different countries, including 53 laboratories in Europe, 32 of North America, 11 in the Asia and Pacific region, as well as research centers in Israel and Panama.