In this project, funded by the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Kurt Zilm at Yale University will develop novel Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) techniques to study the physical chemistry of large molecules in a site-specific manner. Advances in dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP), which enhances NMR signals by over 100-fold, will be adapted to microliter size samples. This has the potential to make feasible biophysical studies on recombinant membrane proteins with as little as 100 nanograms of material. Other methods will be developed to determine distances the order of 10 Angstroms by simple NMR relaxation measurements. These techniques will be applied to understand how mutations in visual pigments change the structure of the retinal chromophore, and for observing the dynamics of buried water molecules in proteins.
Broader impacts of this research include expanding the biophysical chemistry toolbox, and the training of students as instrument building experimentalists at the interface of biology and chemistry. Professor Zilm is actively involved in the recruitment of underrepresented students in natural science research through the Yale University Science and Technology Research Scholars program, and as the host of chemistry laboratory open houses for local high school classes.
