Construction of a Step-Scanning Vibrational Circular Dichroism Instrument

9318233 Sweeney该提案要求仪器允许组装一个新的光谱仪的原型，采用振动圆二色性（VCD）;光学器件将包括一个步进扫描干涉仪，基于傅里叶变换方法。 该光谱仪将是同类仪器中的第一台，能够将VCD测量的灵敏度提高2至3个数量级。 这种仪器的一个独特之处是它能够检测寿命在纳秒范围内的溶液结构-在NMR分析中通常看不见的结构。 这将使它适用于广泛的结构问题，涉及生物大分子。 主要用户之一的Max Diem博士在VCD方面有着丰富的经验，几年前在NSF赠款基金的帮助下设计并建造了自己的仪器。 该仪器目前被用于化学系的多肽和多核苷酸结构研究，但其灵敏度限制了其对一千道尔顿范围内分子的使用。 各种项目描述，从亨特和纽约大学的实验室，其中包括在溶液中的蛋白质和核酸结构的基本方面的调查，金属蛋白的结构，和方面的起始复合物在蛋白质合成，以及药物-DNA相互作用，和金属络合的化疗药物的设计。 预计新的仪器将吸引来自斯隆-凯特琳癌症研究所、洛克菲勒大学和纽约市其他机构的更多用户。

9318233 Sweeney This Proposal requests instrumentation to permit the assembly of a prototype of a new spectrometer, employing vibrational circular dichroism (VCD); the optics will incorporate a step-scanning interferometer, based on a Fourier transform methodology. The spectrometer will be the first of its kind and will be capable of increasing the sensitivity of VCD measurements by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude. A unique feature of such an instrument will be its ability to detect solution structures with lifetimes in the nanosecond range -- structures normally invisible in NMR analysis. This will make it applicable to a broad range of structure problems involving biological macromolecules. One of the major users, Dr. Max Diem, has extensive experience in VCD, having designed and built his own instrument with the help of NSF grant funds several years ago. This instrument is currently being used for polypeptide and polynucleotide structural studies in the Chemistry Department, but its sensitivity limits its use to molecules in the range of one kilo-Dalton. Various projects are described, from laboratories at Hunter and at New York University, which include investigations of basic aspects of protein and nucleic acid structures in solution, structures of metalloproteins, and facets of the initiation complex in protein synthesis, as well as drug-DNA interactions, and the design of metal-complexed chemotherapeutic agents. It is anticipated that the new instrument will attract additional users from the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, the Rockefeller University and other institutions in New York City.