Laser Facility for Biomolecular Dynamics

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Modern bimolecular research in the time domain requires a broad range of reliable laser based instruments to cover the wavelengths, pulse energies and time scales necessary for a comprehensive study. Typically, these instruments are scattered or not routinely available. Thus, a means of enhancing and facilitating such biophysical studies is to bring together the needed instruments into a central facility where researchers can address research problems in a comprehensive and coherent fashion. We are in the process of creating such a facility in the Chemistry Department at NYU. Partial support is requested for instrumentation to help create a state-of-the-art laser spectroscopy facility, designed for and dedicated to optical studies of biological macromolecules -- their structures, dynamics and functions. This instrumentation will be used to investigate a number of problems of current importance, including: the role of conformational disorder in the control of protein function; energy and electron transfer mechanisms; protein folding and denaturation pathways; the structure and dynamics of metal binding sites and hydration layers in proteins and nucleic acids; nucleic acid dynamics; and photophysical and photochemical and photochemical processes in molecules of biological significance. The requested instrumentation includes three laser systems to provide time resolution from .15 ps to CW and tunability from 200 to 900nm. Spectrometers, multichannel detection, instrumentation for rapid mixing and cryogenic trapping of samples, will make available a wide range of experimental options for time resolved and steady state Raman, absorption and fluorescence using these laser sources. A recent grant from the Kresge Foundation ($250K) will be used to purchase additional equipment to enhance the versatility and usefulness of the facility. A condition of this award is that NYU raise a one million dollar endowment to provide for the maintenance of the facility, a campaign that is just getting under way. The location and design of the facility are specifically geared to facilitate biological studies. The facility, which will be jointly maintained by three of the ten major users, is to be made available for both collaborative and independent projects, including provision for use by academic and industrial external users.