This award in the Chemistry of Life Processes (CLP) program supports work by Professor Yi Lu at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to carry out fundamental studies on metalloproteins involved in long-range electron transfers. The long-range electron transfer is a fundamental process in chemistry and biology allowing for respiration, photosynthesis and nearly every other chemical and biological functions; metalloproteins play critical roles in these processes. Using novel biosynthetic approaches, the project elucidates in unprecedented detail the roles of residues responsible for the formation of the electron transfer blue and purple CuA centers, as well as their surrounding environments for fine-tuning the functional properties.
The results advance our understanding of synthesis, coordination and electronic properties of electron transfer centers. The insights gained from this study will allow the design of novel water-soluble and -stable redox agents with tunable redox potentials and ET properties for applications such as more efficient solar energy conversion and fuel cell generation. The broader impacts of the proposal include the training of undergraduate and graduate students in the field of bioinorganic chemistry.
The overall goal of this project is to take advantage of recent developments in biology to advance inorganic chemistry, by extending the boundaries of chemists’ abilities to synthesize novel compounds and to gain a deeper understanding of coordination chemistry of centers involved in electron transfer (ET), a fundamental process in both chemistry and biology. Intellectual Merit: In the last grant period, we have used combined experimental and theoretical approach to understanding of structural features and mechanisms behind the fine-tuning of reduction potentials in electron transfer proteins and the demonstration of generality of such a tuning in other metalloproteins and thus firmly established our methodology and made it possible for other scientists and engineers in the field to apply the methodology in their own systems. More excitingly, we also reported successful lowering of reorganization energy and transforming the ET protein into an enzyme, which furthers the understanding of ET reactivity in proteins and may facilitate de novo design of ET centers for applications such as advanced energy conversions. Broader Impact: The work on this project has also contributed to the education of both the graduate students and undergraduate students working with the PI. Through this grant they have been allowed to work on the latest methods and technologies in the field. Additionally, the research has attracted the best collaborators in our field for our projects. All personnel have had the opportunity to learn from and interact with these outstanding scientists who are experts in the field. Finally, PI, postdoctoral research and graduate students in this project has also given presentations and demonstrations on current research to summer camps to local high school teachers and their students in each summer, to further disseminate the exiting results from this NSF grant and to educate the next generation scientists.
