In this CAREER award, funded by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division and the Molecular Biophysics Program of the Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Division, Prof. Li-Qun Gu of the University of Missouri -- Columbia and his graduate and undergraduate research students will study the dynamic behavior of biomolecular binding and unbinding using single-molecule methods. This will be achieved by detecting the change in conductivity in a manufactured nanopore. The initial molecular targets will be aptamers binding to proteins. Prof. Gu will also further develop his nanobiotechnology course that he has introduced. In addition to his course-development, Prof. Gu will initiate a K-12 outreach program to the Columbia Public Schools to ignite student interest in nanobiotechnology and its applications to the life and health sciences.
By using a nanopore, Prof. Gu and his research students will be able to study certain biological processes one molecule at a time. Compared with other single-molecule methods, the advantage of the nanopore method is that it does not require adding a fluorescent tag to the molecule of interest, a tag that may alter the physical, chemical and biological properties of a molecule. The nanopore may help future scientists in the rational design of chemical compounds that bind selectively to a specific biomolecule (e.g. for new drugs or drug therapies), as well as in the construction of exquisitely sensitive detectors for a narrow range of chemical or biological species (e.g. for detection of biological warfare agents.)
