US-Germany Cooperative Research: Mechanistic Investigation of the Ribosomal Peptidyl Transferase Reaction

0339595 Strobel该奖项支持Scott A.Strobel和耶鲁大学的学生与德国Witten大学/Herdecke大学物理生物化学研究所的Marina Rodnina合作。合作研究的重点将是核糖体肽转移酶反应的催化机理。最近来自核糖体结晶学的结构结果已经确定了肽基转移酶中心的位置，并表明哪些rRNA碱基最有可能参与催化。然而，由于一系列具有挑战性的技术原因，缺乏通过定量测量来鉴定催化基团的功能。德国和美国研究小组的合作旨在通过结合两个研究小组的技术专长来解决这些问题。机理研究将结合快速动力学方法(德国组)和天然核糖体突变体的亲和纯化，并使用新的合成底物类似物(美国组)。该奖项还将促进两个研究小组的青年科学家之间的互动和合作。国际经验将为两名研究生和一名博士后提供更广阔的科学和文化视角。它还将帮助他们在扩大国际合作的背景下看待他们的研究项目。

0339595StrobelThis award supports Scott A. Strobel and students from Yale University in a collaboration with Marina Rodnina of the Institute for Physical Biochemistry at the University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany. The focus of the collaborative research will be the catalytic mechanism of the ribosomal peptidyl transferase reaction. Recent structural results from ribosome crystallography have identified the location of the peptidyl transferase center and suggested which rRNA bases are most likely to be involved in catalysis. However, functional identification of catalytic groups by quantitative measurements is lacking for a series of challenging technical reasons. The collaboration between the German and US groups aims to solve these problems by combining the technical expertise of the two research groups. The mechanistic investigation will be undertaken by combining rapid kinetic methods (German group) with the affinity purification of native ribosomal mutants, and the use of new synthetic substrate analogues (US group). This award will also facilitate interaction and collaboration between the young scientists in the two research groups. The international experience will provide two graduate students and one postdoctoral associate with a broader perspective of science and culture. It will also help them to see their research projects in the expanded context of an international collaboration.