CRC: Motion of biologically relevant molecules in restricted environments

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A team of scientists at Colorado State University is investigating the motions of molecules in restricted environments such as lipid bilayers, micelles, reverse micelles, liposomes, vesicles, and organelles. More specifically, the team is interested in 1) location and motion of molecular probes in self-assembled systems; 2) the influence of confinement, molecule location and motion on intermolecular chemical reactions, specifically vanadium oligomerization, electron and proton transfer; 3) the impact of confinement on large molecule location and motion, and on intramolecular reactions, such as isomerization and DNA hairpin folding; and 4) the motion of the insulin receptor in lipid interfaces. In these small and crowded environments molecules can display dramatically different mobilities and slower movements. Characterizing these motions will allow the team to understand the chemistry occurring in biological systems as well as give insight into non-biological environments such as nanoscale pores.The team will apply a range of techniques, including magnetic resonance spectroscopies, steady-state, time-resolved optical spectroscopies to explore molecular motion. In addition, the team will develop new optical imaging instrumentation based on total internal reflection illumination to study single molecule that measures the rotational diffusion of single molecules by monitoring fluctuations in polarized fluorescence. These studies will lead to new techniques appropriate for membrane studies.The scientists on the team include spectroscopists, synthetic chemists and biologists. Nancy Levinger, Debbie Crans, George Barisas, Alan Van Orden, Christopher Rithner and Deborah Roess comprise the senior scientists from CSU. Collaborating with the CSU researchers are Sandra Bonetti (Colorado State University, Pueblo), Bridget Gourley (DePauw University) and Michael Johnson (New Mexico State University), all from primarily undergraduate and/or high minority serving institutions. The collaboration also benefits from the international contributions of Mariano Correa (Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto, Argentina). This interdisciplinary project at the frontier of the chemical, physical and biological sciences presents a unique collaborative research environment for all team members as well as the opportunity to develop K-12 educational activities focusing on the research theme.