Dynamics Of Protein Folding And Function

Diabetes, Digestive, Kidney Diseases

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The kinetics and mechanism of protein folding is being studied using a variety of laser techniques. These include measuring the rate of a specific intramolecular contact from quenching of tryptophan fluorescence by cysteine, measurements of equilibria and kinetics of an ultra-fast folding protein (villin subdomain) using laser temperature jump, and single molecule fluorescence measurements to characterize the size and dynamics of the unfolded state of two-dtate folding proteins (CspTm and protein L). The results are being used in the developemnt of analytical statistical mechanical models of protein folding and to test the results of molecular dynamics simulations. The dynamics of islet amyloid polypeptide are being studied by quenching of the tryptophan triplet state by cystine. A new project has been initiated in collaboration with Dr. Jeffery Miller on the development of a sensitive kinetic assay for large scale screening of potential drugs for sickle cell disease. Collaborative research on cooperativity in multisubunit proteins has continued with the Parma group.