MRI: Acquisition of a Spectropolarimeter: A Chiro-optical Spectroscopy Workbench

该奖项由2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)资助。通过重大研究仪器(MRI)项目的这一奖项，贡萨加大学的Matthew Creemins教授及其同事Tomaso Vanelli和Jeffrey M.Watson将获得光谱偏振仪。将使用该仪器的本科生研究项目的例子包括：(1)神经肽的表征，(2)铁胆碱突变体及其与细菌铁载体的络合物的稳定性的表征，(3)亚砷酸盐氧化酶热稳定性的结构和序列要求的表征，以及(4)通过评估底物和底物类似物对酶的关键结构元素的折叠的影响来表征HMG-CoA还原酶的酶机理。圆二色谱是现代实验室中用于评估蛋白质、DNA和小分子的手性性质和此类性质变化的宝贵工具。光谱仪测量化合物的光学活性，这是由于它们对不同偏振的光的不同响应而产生的。该仪器将用于本科研究和实验室课程。它将被纳入美国原住民和高中推广项目，并由惠特沃斯大学的研究人员使用。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Through this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, Professor Matthew Creemins and colleagues Tomaso Vanelli and Jeffrey M. Watson of Gonzaga University will acquire a spectropolarimeter. Examples of undergraduate research projects that will employ the instrument include, (1) characterization of neuropeptides, (2) characterization of the stability of siderocalin mutants and their complexes with bacterial siderophores, (3) characterization of the structural and sequence requirements for thermal stability of an arsenite oxidase enzyme, and (4) characterization of an enzymatic mechanism for a HMG-CoA reductase by assessing the effects of substrates and substrate analogues on the folding of a key structural element of the enzyme.Circular dichroism spectrometers are a valuable tool in modern laboratories for assessing the chiral properties and the changes in such properties of proteins, DNA, and small molecules. The spectrometer measures the optical activity of compounds which results from their differential response to light of different polarizations. The instrument will be used in undergraduate research and laboratory courses. It will incorporated into Native American and high school outreach projects and used by researchers at Whitworth University.