The proposed work is centered in the development of a different class of fluorescence probes, based on electronic transitions sensitive to the polarity and viscosity of the microenvironment, to study membrane and enzyme models. Our research program is designed by the premise that the techniques developed for studying membrane models could be adapted to investigate biomembranes and enzymes. It is yet not understood how the physical properties of the bilayers affect the conformation, function and activation of proteins. Structural and dynamical information could be obtained studying perturbations of the fluorescence spectra of these fluorescent organic molecules, namely the red-shifting of the bands as function of polarity, emission decay times as well as depolarization of the emission, in complex fluids such as cationic, anionic, neutral and reversed micelles, and in more realistic membrane models such as vesicles. In order to develop new fluorescence probes based on charge-transfer transition for measuring micropolarity in membrane model systems, it should be calibrated the red-shift of the band as function of the polarity of the medium. Solvatochromic plots need to be constructed from aprotic, protic solvents such as alcohols, and water mixtures with polar solvents. Students will have the opportunity of learning several experimental techniques that would allow them to address a wide variety of biomedical problems. They will be encouraged to interact with other scientific groups through their participation in Regional and National Scientific Meetings and working for a few days in the Center of Fluorescence Spectroscopy at the University of Maryland.
| Ramírez-Camejo, Luis A; Maldonado-Morales, Génesis; Bayman, Paul (2017) Differential Microbial Diversity in Drosophila melanogaster: Are Fruit Flies Potential Vectors of Opportunistic Pathogens? Int J Microbiol 2017:8526385 |
| Morales-Rivera, Keyla F; Piñero Cruz, Dalice M; Prieto, Jose A (2017) Crystal structure of (-)-(S)-4-[(2S,3S,4S,Z)-3-hydroxy-4-methyl-hept-5-en-2-yl]-1,3-dioxolan-2-one. Acta Crystallogr E Crystallogr Commun 73:1070-1072 |
| García-Arriaga, Marilyn; Acosta-Santiago, Maxier; Cruz, Antony et al. (2017) Probing the Limits of Supramolecular G-Quadruplexes Using Atomistic Molecular Dynamics Simulations. Inorganica Chim Acta 468:209-222 |
| Huang, Qing; Quiñones, Edwin (2016) A spectroscopic method to determine the activity of the restriction endonuclease EcoRV that involves a single reaction. Anal Biochem 497:103-5 |
| Mège, Pascal; Schizas, Nikolaos V; Reyes, Joselyd García et al. (2015) Genetic seascape of the threatened Caribbean elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, on the Puerto Rico Shelf. Mar Ecol (Berl) 36:195-209 |
| Morales-Rivera, Amarilys; Hernández-Burgos, Mayté M; Martínez-Rivera, Arlene et al. (2014) Anxiolytic effects of oxytocin in cue-induced cocaine seeking behavior in rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 231:4145-55 |
| Ramírez-Camejo, Luis A; Torres-Ocampo, Ana P; Agosto-Rivera, José L et al. (2014) An opportunistic human pathogen on the fly: strains of Aspergillus flavus vary in virulence in Drosophila melanogaster. Med Mycol 52:211-9 |
| Martínez-Rivera, Arlene; Rodríguez-Borrero, Enrique; Matías-Alemán, María et al. (2013) Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 within nucleus accumbens shell modulates environment-elicited cocaine conditioning expression. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 110:154-60 |
| Galindo-Cardona, Alberto; Acevedo-Gonzalez, Jenny P; Rivera-Marchand, Bert et al. (2013) Genetic structure of the gentle Africanized honey bee population (gAHB) in Puerto Rico. BMC Genet 14:65 |
| Santiago-Rodriguez, Tasha M; Rivera, Jessica I; Coradin, Mariel et al. (2013) Antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes in Enterococcus isolated from tropical recreational waters. J Water Health 11:387-96 |
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