CAREER: Mechanistic Studies of Nucleotide Reactivity

有了这个职业奖，有机和高分子化学计划支持博士Jeehiun K。李在新泽西皮斯卡特维的罗格斯大学新不伦瑞克化学系。 这项工作有两个目的：1）通过气相质谱酸度测量和理论计算的组合来理解核酸碱基的内在氢键能力，和2）说明由5 '-单磷酸脱羧酶催化的乳清酸到尿嘧啶的酶促转化，利用动力学同位素效应。李博士计划进行基础研究，以了解决定DNA和RNA碱基对之间键合的基础化学，生物学中储存和传递遗传密码的分子。 对将乳清酸转化为尿嘧啶（RNA中的碱基之一）的酶的研究可能会导致改进的抗肿瘤药物。 除了她自己的研究和教学，李博士正在开发一个指导网络，罗格斯大学物理科学网络的妇女，以增加妇女选择和生存在罗格斯大学物理科学的职业生涯的数量。

With this CAREER award the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports the work of Dr. Jeehiun K. Lee in the Department of Chemistry at Rutgers University New Brunswick in Piscataway, New Jersey. The purpose of the work is twofold: 1) to understand the intrinsic hydrogen bonding ability of nucleic bases through a combination of gas phase mass spectroscopic acidity measurements and theoretical computations, and 2) to illucidate the enzymatic transformation of orotic acid to uracil, catalyzed by 5'-monophosphate decarboxylase, using kinetic isotope effects.Dr. Lee plans fundamental studies to understand the fundamental chemistry determining the bonding between the pairs of bases of DNA and RNA, the molecules in biology which store and transmit the genetic code. Studies of the enzyme which transforms orotic acid to uracil, one of the bases in RNA, could lead to improved antitumor agents. In addition to her own research and teaching, Dr. Lee is developing a mentoring network, the Rutgers Women In Physical Sciences Network, to increase the number of women choosing and surviving in careers in the physical sciences at Rutgers.