International Research Fellowship Program: Single Molecule Protein Conformational Dynamics with Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

[107315]罗兹国际研究奖学金奖励计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将为Anna E. Rhoades博士和Gilad Haran博士在以色列Rehovot魏茨曼研究所的工作提供12个月的支持。该项目的共同资助来自数学和物理科学理事会的多学科活动办公室。本项目的目的是用表面增强拉曼光谱表征单个细胞色素c分子的折叠和构象动力学。实验将集中于发展这种测量构象波动的技术，并将其用于不同平衡条件下的研究，以获得平衡和动力学信息。PI将开发一个模型，解释蛋白质如何从线性氨基酸链通过一系列构象中间体折叠到其功能性三维结构。蛋白质折叠问题有时被称为“遗传密码的下半场”，是当代生物物理学中尚未解决的主要问题之一。这项研究的影响将在诸如基于基因序列确定蛋白质结构，理解某些疾病中涉及的特定蛋白质的错误折叠和聚集等领域。魏茨曼研究所的实验室拥有完成本提案中所述目标所需的所有必要设备。

0107315RhoadesThe International Research Fellowship Awards Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will provide twelve months of support to Dr. Anna E. Rhoades to work with Dr. Gilad Haran at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel. Co-funding for this project comes from the Math and Physical Science Directorate's Office of Multidisciplinary Activities.The goal of this project is to characterize the folding and conformational dynamics of a single cytochrome c molecule with surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Experiments will focus on developing this technique for measuring conformational fluctuations and using it for studies in varying equilibrium conditions, to obtain both equilibrium and kinetic information. The PI will develop a model that explains how a protein folds from a linear chain of amino acids through a series of conformational intermediates, to its functional three-dimensional structure. The protein-folding problem is sometimes referred to as the "second half of the genetic code" and is one of the major unresolved problems in contemporary biophysics. The impact of this research will be in areas such as the determination of the structure of a protein based on its gene sequence, understanding the misfolding and aggregation of particular proteins involved in some diseases.The laboratory of the Weizmann Institute has all the necessary equipment required to accomplish the goals described in this proposal.