Physical Chemistry of Macromolecules as Probed by High Resolution Solid State NMR

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The Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Chemistry Division supports Professor Kurt Zilm of Yale University to develop new nuclear magnetic resonance methods for investigation of the chemistry, dynamics and structures of biomolecules. The research will use relaxation methods to identify how structure is related to the dispersion in internal protein and water motions, and to obtain distances in biologically relevant macromolecular complexes. To extend solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance to more complex and size limited samples, new instruments will be developed with 1 to 2 orders of magnitude higher specific sensitivity. These will combine paramagnetic condensed acquisition with very fast cryogenic magic angle sample spinning, as well as microliter sample size dynamic nuclear polarization hardware. When developed, these capabilities will be applied to characterize mutant visual pigments and functionally distinct isoforms of prion protein oligomers. Currently, these are samples where obtaining nuclear magnetic resonance data is impractical on sub-microliter samples. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a well-known diagnostic tool in medicine that uses nuclear spin information, often in water, to distinguish different types of tissue in the body. The study of nuclear spin properties of water in proteins is directly related to understanding and improving contrast in MRI technology. This research involves fundamental studies of the distribution of water in proteins, knowledge from which will help improve the sensitivity and the spatial resolution of MRI experiments. The research program also encourages under-represented minorities to enter science careers through involvement in the public education program "Science on Saturdays," a series of scientific lectures and hands-on demonstrations attended by up to 300 members of the public at a time.