Acquisition of Circular Dichroism Spectropolarimeter

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This award is for the acquisition of a circular dichroism (CD) spectropolarimeter with stopped flow and total fluorescence accessories. This instrument will be used to measure the denaturation transition and conformational unfolding of DNA oligomers and proteins due to confinement effects. The investigators will use the CD instrumentation to complement Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Isothermal Titration Calorimetry for the following uses: to monitor conformational ordering upon DNA duplex formation, to determine whether this parameter is sequence dependent, to measure denaturation process of trinucleotide DNA duplex, and to measure conformational change upon drugs binding to DNA. Acquisition of this CD instrumentation will greatly enhance inquiry-based curriculum in the general chemistry, biochemistry, inorganic chemistry and physical chemistry courses at the college, in addition to its benefits for undergraduate student researchers. Acquisition of this instrumentation also strengthens the collaboration between this undergraduate college and Argonne National Laboratory.