Exploration of Membrane-Based Proteolytic Digestion for Studies of Protein Structure and Phosphorylation

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With support from the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Merlin Bruening at Michigan State University and his group will develop enzyme-containing porous membranes that catalyze digestion of proteins to enable their analysis. They will investigate how variation of the flow rate through the membranes affects the lengths of the peptides that result from digestion. Formation of large peptides is important for finding specific protein modifications including phosphorylation that are relevant to diseases such as cancer. Control over membrane digestion can also help elucidate protein structure and examine how structure changes in response to certain drugs or other proteins. The proposed research, if successful, will extend the utility of the membrane digestion approach and provide better tools for post-translational modified protein analysis. The research will involve students at high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels, including those from underrepresented groups. A high school teacher workshop on protein analysis by mass spectrometry will further expand the impact of these studies. An international student exchange program is also in development to further expose students to different scientfic training and cultural environments.