With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, the Department of Chemistry at Knox College will acquire a stopped flow apparatus to investigate protein design, structure and folding for oligomeric proteins. The stopped-flow unit will allow the identification of a fast (burst) phase that is often associated with the initial step of folding of a protein, especially for many oligomeric proteins that involve the initial folding of the monomer followed by individual monomers interacting to form the quaternary structure. The model oligomeric proteins, WT GrpE and GrpE 1-112, and various other appropriate GrpE variant proteins will be investigated.
A stopped-flow apparatus is used for rapid mixing and monitoring of changes using spectroscopic techniques to observe the progress of the change or a reaction. In these studies the change in a circular dichroism spectrum will be monitored, or else the protein fluorescence or the absorbance spectrum, as appropriate. This acquisition will permit more projects for student researchers and improve the quality of their research training. Additionally, students majoring in biochemistry or chemistry at Knox College will have the opportunity to use the stopped-flow accessory in upper level elective courses with laboratory components.
