Electron Transfer in Cytochromes: Controlling Factors

该奖项是妇女研究机会方案下的职业发展奖。该奖项将用于在一个与生物电子转移机制有关的项目中掌握蛋白质操纵所需的生化技术。电子转移是最基本的生物过程之一。它是许多代谢途径中不可或缺的一部分，在生物系统利用氧气方面起着至关重要的作用。该研究项目的重点是细胞色素之间的电子转移，细胞色素是一类金属蛋白，在利用氧气的过程中进行电子转移。这项研究将集中在三个因素上，这三个因素预计是细胞色素电子转移的主要决定因素：静电学，两个血红素之间的距离，以及蛋白质运动。电子自交换速率常数将被测量如下：a)来自不同物种的细胞色素，b)带有衍生残基的细胞色素，c)天然血红素被合成的血红素取代的细胞色素，d)多肽链断裂的细胞色素，以及e)通过定点突变合成的细胞色素。自交换速率常数将通过核磁共振光谱分析来测量。

This award is a Career Advancement Award under the Research Opportunities for Women Program. The award will be used to gain mastery of biochemical techniques necessary for protein manipulation in a project concerned with the mechanisms of biological electron transfer. Electron transfer is one of the most fundamental biological processes. It is an integral part of many metabolic pathways and plays a vital role in the utilization of oxygen by biological systems. The focus of the research project is electron transfer between cytochromes, a family of metalloproteins which undergo electron transfer during the utilization of oxygen. The study will focus on the three factors which are expected to be the primary determinants of cytochrome electron transfer: electrostatics, the distance between the two hemes, and protein motion. Electron self-exchange rate constants will be measured for: a) cytochromes from various species, b) cytochromes with derivatized residues, c) cytochromes in which the native heme has been replaced with a synthetic heme, d) cytochromes in which there is a break in the polypeptide chain, and e) cytochromes synthesized via site-directed mutagenesis. Self-exchange rate constants will be measured by NMR spectroscopy.