Conformational Effects on the Gas-Phase Acidities of Biopolymers

该奖项由化学学部化学结构、动力学和机理（CSDM-A）项目资助，太平洋大学任建华教授和她的研究生和本科生正在研究构象对重要生物聚合物气相酸度的影响。具体而言，任教授和她的团队将：(1)构建气相酸度与大量肽（包括含有非天然氨基酸的肽）构象之间的定量相关性；(2)研究对含d -氨基酸肽气相酸性的影响；(3)研究螺旋构象对类肽聚合物气相酸度的影响。任教授和她的研究人员将使用多种质谱方法进行这些研究。任教授和她的团队的最终目标是开发更好的模型来理解蛋白质的酸碱特性。蛋白质的酸碱性质对蛋白质（酶）的反应性有深远的影响，蛋白质中肽群的整体酸度受到无数微妙的静电效应的影响。任博士正试图揭示这些微妙影响的相对作用。在此过程中，任教授将在生物质谱这一重要领域培养大量的本科生和研究生（MS）研究人员，之后他们将进入技术和医疗领域。

In this award, funded by the Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanisms (CSDM-A) Program of the Division of Chemistry, Professor Jianhua Ren of the University of the Pacific and her graduate and undergraduate research students are investigating the conformational effects on the gas-phase acidities of important biopolymers. Specifically, Prof. Ren and her group will: (1) Construct quantitative correlations between the gas-phase acidities and the conformations of a large number of peptides, including peptides containing unnatural amino acids; (2) investigate the effects on the gas-phase acidities of peptides containing D-amino acids; and (3) examine the helix conformational effects on the gas-phase acidities of peptoid polymers. Prof. Ren and her researchers will carry out these studies using a variety of mass-spectrometry methods.The ultimate goal of the work by Professor Ren and her group is to develop better models for understanding the acid-base properties of proteins. The acid-base properties of proteins have a profound impact on the reactivity of proteins (enzymes), and the overall acidity of peptide groups in a protein are influenced by a myriad of subtle electrostatic effects. Dr. Ren is trying to unravel the relative contributions of these subtle effects. Along the way, Prof. Ren will train a very large number of undergraduate and graduate (MS) student researchers in the important area of biological mass spectrometry, after which they will enter the technological and medical workforce.