CAREER: Mechanistic Studies of Nucleotide Reactivity

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With this CAREER award the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports the work of Dr. Jeehiun K. Lee in the Department of Chemistry at Rutgers University New Brunswick in Piscataway, New Jersey. The purpose of the work is twofold: 1) to understand the intrinsic hydrogen bonding ability of nucleic bases through a combination of gas phase mass spectroscopic acidity measurements and theoretical computations, and 2) to illucidate the enzymatic transformation of orotic acid to uracil, catalyzed by 5'-monophosphate decarboxylase, using kinetic isotope effects.Dr. Lee plans fundamental studies to understand the fundamental chemistry determining the bonding between the pairs of bases of DNA and RNA, the molecules in biology which store and transmit the genetic code. Studies of the enzyme which transforms orotic acid to uracil, one of the bases in RNA, could lead to improved antitumor agents. In addition to her own research and teaching, Dr. Lee is developing a mentoring network, the Rutgers Women In Physical Sciences Network, to increase the number of women choosing and surviving in careers in the physical sciences at Rutgers.