Abstract to proposal No. 0215374, entitled "Acquisition of an electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer for use in research, undergraduate and graduate curricula at Brooklyn College"
A grant has been awarded to the Department of Chemistry at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. The grant will be used toward the purchase of a new EPR spectrometer to replace a nearly thirty-year old instrument whose function has seriously deteriorated in the recent past. EPR spectroscopy is a basic analytical and research tool used to study the properties of systems containing unpaired electrons. Specifically, the method of EPR spectroscopy will be used to study 1) the structure and mechanism of a new class of bacterial heme enzyme, catalase-peroxidase. This enzyme is of key importance in the mechanism of action of a first-line antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis infection; 2) the mechanism of a radical enzyme, pyruvate formate-lyase, which provides a simple model system for analysis of unusual enzymatic reactions; 3) the action and toxicity in mitochondria of methamphetamine-related compounds; 4) the mechanism of action of a DNA-cleaving molecule; 5) the molecular structure of materials used in batteries and also the structure of chemical compounds important in radioactive waste management; 6) the structure of metalloprotein active sites. Several biochemical projects supervised by Prof. Richard S. Magliozzo, research by auxiliary users from other universities, as well as chemistry laboratory course curricula in undergraduate and graduate programs at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York will derive benefit from a new EPR instrument purchased with support from the NSF. New scientific knowledge that will be produced during the period of funding will advance the field of biochemical reaction mechanisms, and will provide insights into the structure and function of biological and environmental chemicals. Undergraduate and graduate education at Brooklyn College (the latter consisting of local Master's Programs in Chemistry and Biochemistry, as well as Ph. D. Programs in the same two areas coordinated at The Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, NY) will also derive benefits from this grant. Moreover, the education and training of undergraduate students from underrepresented minority groups in the sciences, who participate in local, state and federally funded programs, will be directly improved by the availability of a new instrument for their research projects at Brooklyn College.
