Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) has long been a standard form of spectroscopy used in biomedical research. EPR has been used to study the function of enzymes, structural proteins and enzymes at interfaces, DMA, and RNA. Over one third of all enzymes, many of which play critical roles in human health, contain transition-metals at the catalytic site. EPR is especially convenient for probing transition metal ion active sites in biology. The information obtained from EPR from the catalytic site is very important to understand the reactivity of the enzyme and its function. Structural proteins and lipids control the health and functionality of membranes. Multi-frequency saturation-recovery (SR) EPR has proven very powerful in studying membranes and membrane-bound proteins. The EPR parameters obtained provide information about dynamics and structure. The relation of an enzyme to its interface (such as lipases, and proteins that control bone and teeth formation) as well as the tertiary structure of RNA, which is integral to gene expression, can be determined using site directed spin labeling. Double electron-electron resonance (DEER or P-ELDOR) experiments allow one to obtain information regarding distances separating two paramagnetic species, such as an NO-label and a transition-metal ion. In this way one can determine the context of the three-dimensional structure of a biomolecule such as DNA, RNA, or a protein, and its relation to its environment. ENDOR (electron nuclear double resonance) is a type of EPR spectroscopy that provides information regarding the nuclei surrounding a paramagnetic center. ENDOR is used to determine protein structure in the absence of a crystal structure, and to define the location of protons (or other nuclei) that might play a critical role in mechanism, yet are difficult to locate by crystallography or EXAFS. Q-Band ENDOR allows nuclei to be located with a high resolution. Replacement of the outdated UW EPR (the only EPR spectrometer in the UW system), combined with an upgrade to include multi-frequency SR, DEER, and Q-band ENDOR capabilities, will facilitate the NIH-funded research of a number of investigators at UW (Robinson, Kovacs, Gelb, Atkins, Stayton, Woods, Fang) as well as neighboring labs (PNNL (Bowman), and U. of Oregon (DeRose)) bringing the pacific northwest into the forefront of magnetic resonance research. ? ? ? ?
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