Department of Chemistry

Two Lasers

The Michael Gross group intersects two lasers: the first is a temperature jump at 1900 cm-1(IR) to heat a flowing solution containing a protein and perturb its folding. The second at 248 nm (UV) is an FPOP probe generating OH radicals that footprint the folding state of the protein on the microsec time scale. For a description of this work, see: T-jump and Fast Photochemical Oxidation Probe Sub Millisecond Protein Folding, Jiawei Chen, Don L. Rempel, Michael L. Gross, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132, 15502–15504 (2010).

Patterning Cells on Ordinary Glass

Glycol terminated trichlorosilanes make it possible to directly pattern proteins and cells on ordinary glass coverslips. The Maurer group is working to develop new surface chemistry to answer biological questions that are beyond the reach of current techniques. The group's work focuses primarily on questions in neurobiology. Read more...

Sequence or Structure: Using Bioinformatics and Homology Modeling to Understand Functional Relationships

Homology modeling is a critical tool for experimentalists interested in understanding protein structure-function relationships. The Maurer group has explored the interrelationship between sequence, structure, and function in the preparation of cAMP/cGMP binding site models to gain insight into how experimentalists can easily construct useful homology models. Read more...

Native Electrospray Mass Spectrometry Reveals the Nature and Stoichiometry of Pigments in the FMO Photosynthetic Antenna Protein

The FMO antenna protein from green sulfur photosynthetic bacteria has been analyzed by native mass spectrometry by Wen et al. Biochemistry (2011) 50: 3502-3511. This revealed additional pigments that function to couple this complex to the chlorosome complex that feeds energy to it. This work was a collaboration between the Blankenship and Gross research groups.

Self-Assembled Monolayers (SAMs) Patterned by Microcontact Printing can be Used to Produce Patterned Lipid Bilayers

The Maurer group has developed a method for using patterned self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold substrates to form supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) over glycol terminated monolayers that resist protein and lipid adsorption. Large transmembrane proteins, such as alpha-hemolysin, can be preferentially inserted into the patterned bilayer regions. These patterned bilayers provide a new platform for the study of transmembrane proteins and phospholipid bilayers. Read more...

Building Addressable Libraries: Locating Amines on a Chip

The image shows a "site-selective" reductive amination sequence on a microelectrode array, investigated by Kevin Moeller's group. In this experiment, Pd(II) is used at selected electrodes as an oxidant to generate a carbonyl for the reductive amination. Two reactions were conducted placing different fluorescent dyes on the array.

Identification and experimental verification of a novel family of bacterial cyclic nucleotide-gated (bCNG) ion channels

Over fifty putative cyclic nucleotide gated ion channels have been identified in bacteria and several of these channels have been confirmed to gate in response to cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) alone. The Maurer group is studying this new and exciting family of bacterial ion channels, which are an important model system for mammalian ligand-gated ion channels (LGICs).

FPOP

Using a pulsed laser to give h?, the Michael Gross group photolyzes HO-OH to produce HO• for foot printing solvent-accessible side chains on proteins. The approach, coupled with MS analysis, maps protein interfaces faster than a protein can unfold. Read more. . .

Building Addressable Libraries: A Site-Selective Oxidation Reaction?

The image shows a "site-selective" Wacker oxidation on a microelectrode array, fabricated(?) by Kevin Moeller's research group. In this experiment, the Wacker oxidation is triggered by using the electrodes in the array to generate a Pd(II) oxidant.

Determining Protein:Ligand Affinities by PLIMSTEX (Protein-Ligand Interactions by Mass Spectrometry, Titration, and H/D EXchange):

Using a new approach in mass spectrometry, the Michael Gross group follows amide exchange of a protein during titration with any ligand to give protein affinities. The curve, after modeling, yields the binding constant (Κ_i or β_i)

Next-Generation Tools for Molecular Modeling

The Ponder lab is researching advanced force fields for molecular dynamics simulation of water, ions, organic molecules and biopolymers. Our AMOEBA polarizable model produces "chemically accurate" interaction energetics for

Amidine-Based Catalysts

This class of asymmetric catalysts developed by the Birman group shows remarkable efficacy and versatility in promoting enantioselective acylation reactions and related transformations. Their ease of preparation and flexibility of the catalyst design contribute to their growing popularity in the synthetic community. Read more...

Seminars

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Opportunities

Industry R&D Summer Internships for Undergraduates

Three paid internships are available in the chemistry/biotech fields for Summer 2012.

Chemistry -- Assistant Professorships

The Department of Chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis seeks to make two faculty appointments to begin in the fall 2012 in any area of biological, organic, or physical chemistry.