NSF Award
9002041
A group of investigators with related interest in the synthesis, immunogenicity and conformation of middle-sized peptide fragments and small proteins propose to install a circular dichroism spectrometer (dichrograph) with controlling computer. No instrument for measuring circular dichroism spectra is currently available in the Wistar Institute or at the University of Pennsylvania. The dichrograph will permit a quick spectroscopic characterization of a large number of peptides synthesized for immunological studies, and as models for protein folding intermediates. It will provide information on the secondary structure and conformational flexibility in solution of the synthetic fragments. The instrument will make it possible to study the correlation conformational changes of immunogenic peptides as well as conformational changes due to post-translational modifications (e.g., glycosylation and phosphorylation). Other applications include measurement of protein denaturation curves in order to determine the effect of mutation on protein stability, and conformational studies on peptide models of protein folding intermediates in cytochrome C and ubiquitin.
