In this award, funded by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Division of Chemistry, Professor Jianhua Ren of the University of the Pacific, together with her postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate student researchers, will study the gas-phase acidities of a series of designed model peptides in order to build up a model of how secondary structure (primarily helix content) influences the pKas of the individual amino acids. These studies will be carried out through a combination of experimental (mass spectrometric) and theoretical (computational) methods.
Amino acids are the basic building blocks of proteins, and understanding protein structure and function is a major goal of molecular biology, proteomics, and a host of biochemical enterprises. Work like that done in the Ren group can help to shed light on the ways in which a protein's structure can influence its fundamental chemistry. A near-term result of this research may be improved computer algorithms for protein sequencing and identification used in modern laboratories. In addition to the broader scientific impact of Prof. Ren's research, she will vigorously recruit young researchers from the local colleges and universities (ones without active research programs) as well as from local high schools -- thus training a large number of young people in modern biophysical methods.
