Electrostatics and dielectric properties of bio-nano interface by spin-labeling EPR

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With this award, the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program of the Division of Chemistry is funding Professor Tatyana Smirnova of the North Carolina State University to develop new Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy techniques for assessing the local electrostatics and dielectric properties of lipid-nano-structured hybrid materials. This research project focuses on designing new spectroscopic probes and developing experimental methods to investigate the influence of nanostructured support and confinement on properties of biological membranes and the membrane-protein interface. The research project is a vehicle for the training of graduate and undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds in highly interdisciplinary environment. Research activities are being integrated with education through designing of a suite of undergraduate teaching labs based on research and industrial applications of EPR spectroscopy. The proposed application-based suite of EPR laboratory exercises aims to improve STEM education and provide skills appropriate for the present day science and technology workforce.New pH-sensitive EPR active probes and labels are being synthesized to enable measurements of proton concentration and local dielectric constant in heterogeneous nanoscale systems. The new methodology is being applied to profile local dielectric constant and proton gradients in phospholipid membranes and along membrane-protein interface. The extent to which nano-confinement of lipid membranes can alter the polarity, water and proton profiles within the phospholipid bilayer and at the protein-lipid interface and potentially disrupt the optimal conditions for the lipid-protein and protein-protein interactions is being investigated. The methodology being developed is expected to be widely applicable to an array of novel lipid-nanostructure hybrids that hold promise to open new analytical and technological applications.