Development of Far-Infrared Difference Spectroscopy For Studies of Biological Pigment-Protein Complexes

该合同支持开发用于在1000-140 cm-1光谱范围内对生物色素-蛋白质复合物进行傅里叶变换红外（FTIR）差异光谱测量的仪器。目前很少有仪器能对~1000 cm-1以下的生物样品进行测量。灵敏度低于~1000 cm-1的仪器本身就很慢，测量通常要持续数天。在这里，将构建灵敏度低至~140 cm-1的仪器，数据采集速率至少比现有仪器高两个数量级。这样的仪器将使生物样品的远红外差测量更简单。主要的进步是在制造，测试和结合新的快速和敏感的远红外探测器到我们的FTIR仪器。FTIR差分技术的扩展到~140 cm-1是非常可取的，因为它将打开一个窗口，金属和有机配体（Mn）之间的键。O,毫克。N,铁。N,铁。S)，可以直接研究大量蛋白质辅因子的特性。

This award supports the development of an instrument for Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) difference spectroscopic measurement of biological pigment-protein complexes in the 1000-140 cm-1 spectral region. At present few instruments can perform measurements on biological samples below ~1000 cm-1. Instruments that do have sensitivity below ~1000 cm-1 are inherently slow, and measurements typically extend over several days. Here, an instrument will be constructed with sensitivity down to ~140 cm-1, with data acquisition rates at least two orders of magnitude superior to existing instruments. Such an instrument will make far-IR difference measurements of biological samples simpler. The main advance is in the fabrication, testing and incorporation of new fast and sensitive far-infrared detectors into our FTIR instrumentation. Extension of FTIR difference techniques down to ~140 cm-1 is highly desirable as it will open up a window where the bonds between metals and organic ligands (Mn.O, Mg.N, Fe.N, Fe.S), characteristic of a large number of the protein cofactors can be directly investigated.