International Research Fellowship Program: The Atomic Structure of Amino Acids in Solution: A Neutron Diffraction and Computer Modeling Study

[404938]麦克莱恩国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持Sylvia E. McLain博士与Alan K. Soper博士在英国卢瑟福阿佩尔顿实验室进行为期22个月的研究，该项目的重点是研究水溶液中氨基酸和水之间相互作用的局部结构，重点是氢键。中子衍射，在可能的情况下增加氢和氮同位素标记，用于确定这些体系中的氢键。此外，利用计算机模拟模型对衍射结果进行了分析，从而对存在的氢键进行了三维描述。这项迄今为止无与伦比的工作，可能会大大促进我们对溶液中氢键如何驱动蛋白质结构和功能的理解。这项工作是在英国卢瑟福阿普尔顿实验室的ISIS中子散裂源与无序材料组组长A. K. Soper博士合作完成的。

0404938McLainThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-two-month research fellowship by Dr. Sylvia E. McLain to work with Dr. Alan K. Soper at Rutherford Appelton Laboratory in the United Kingdom The focus of this project is to study the local structure of interactions between amino acids and water in aqueous solution, with an emphasis on hydrogen bonding. Neutron diffraction, augmented where possible with hydrogen and nitrogen isotope labeling, is used to determine the hydrogen bonding in these systems. In addition, the diffraction results are analyzed with a computer simulation models to enable a three dimensional description of the hydrogen bonding present. This work, hitherto unparalleled, is likely to significantly advance our understanding of how hydrogen bonding in solution drives protein structure and function. This work is performed in collaboration with Dr. A. K. Soper, Disordered Materials group leader, at the ISIS neutron spallation source located at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the United Kingdom.