Crowding Effects on Trincleotide Hairpins

弗曼大学的杰弗里·佩蒂得到了实验物理化学计划的支持，参与了一个RUI项目，该项目旨在评估细胞样环境中三核苷酸重复发夹的结构、动力学和能量学。将采取两种研究途径。首先，单分子荧光能量转移将用于测量DNA链上发色团之间的距离，提供结构信息。其次，将测量拥挤对发夹能量学的影响。通过吸收光谱法和差示扫描量热法（DSC），测量了拥挤对变性过程中自由能、焓、熵和热容变化的影响。研究结果有望使人们对DNA序列和细胞环境对由重复序列形成的结构类型的影响有新的认识。这个项目将通过研究向弗曼大学的本科生教授科学。学生将学习组织和传播他们的研究活动的成果，通过在专业会议上的演讲和通过在主要文献中发表。新的仪器和实验将被整合到实验课中，并且博士后将在一个以本科为重点的机构的未来教师生涯中受到指导。

Jeffrey Petty of Furman University is supported by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program for a RUI project that aims to evaluate the structure, dynamics, and energetics of trinucleotide repeat hairpins in cell-like environments. Two avenues of study will be pursued. First, single molecule fluorescence energy transfer will be used to measure the distances between chromophores on the DNA strand, providing structural information. Second, the influence of crowding on the energetics of the hairpins will be measured. Through absorption spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), the effects of crowding on the free energy, enthalpy, entropy, and heat capacity changes for denaturation will be measured. Outcomes are expected to enable new understandings of the effect of DNA sequence and the cellular environment on the types of structures that form from repeated sequences. This project will teach science through research to undergraduates at Furman University. The students will learn to organize and disseminate the outcomes of their research activities through presentations at professional meetings and through publication in the primary literature. The new instruments and experiments will be integrated into laboratory classes, and as well a postdoctoral associate will be mentored for a future faculty career at an undergraduate-focused institution.