Development of Circular Dichroism Methods to Study RNA-Metal Interactions

化学系特别项目办公室的启动补助金支持安德鲁·L教授的研究。费格在印第安纳州大学。 该研究的主题是开发一种新的方法，用于观察基于圆二色光谱的金属与核酸结合。 特别是，Mg2+离子在RNA生物化学中发挥的作用将被检查。 两个小RNA的光谱研究将与探测金属结合的动力学研究进行比较。金属与RNA的结合是生物活性所必需的。 该项目的应用之一是深入了解具有催化活性的RNA的机制。 最终，这里开发的方法可用于研究蛋白质和核酸分子中的各种结构变化和其他动态过程。

This starter grant award of the Special Projects Office of the Chemistry Division supports the research of Professor Andrew L. Feig at Indiana University. The theme of the research is the development of a new methodology for observing metal binding to nucleic acids based on circular dichroism spectroscopy. In particular, the role that Mg2+ ions play in RNA biochemistry will be examined. Spectroscopic examinations of two small RNAs will be compared to kinetic studies that have probed metal binding.Metal binding to RNAs is essential for biological activity. One of the applications of this project is insight into the mechanisms of RNAs with catalytic activity. Ultimately, the methods developed here can be used to study a wide variety of structural changes and other dynamic processes in proteins and nucleic acid molecules.