The title of the Grant is "ESR Investigation of the Peroxidase Activity of Modified Cytochrome c" the abstract reads:
Free radicals serve many functions critical to normal human physiology; in addition, they foster many disease-related conditions. As we unravel the molecular-level details of cellular function, the mitochondria clearly play a significant role. This proposal is particularly interested in the role of cytochrome c (cyt c) in mitochondrial processes. With respect to oxidative phosphorylation, the role of cyt c is well understood. In an apparently unrelated chain of events, cyt c also plays a significant role in mitochondrial signaling leading to apoptosis. There are indications that cytochrome c has a “gain of function” related to the oxidation of lipids. Cytochrome c is a heme protein that has the potential to carryout peroxidase reactions resulting in free radicals. We propose to observe directly, using ESR, the free radical products resulting from the cyt c oxidation of lipids. This proposed research will take advantage of a recently developed electron spin resonance (ESR) method for directly detecting free radicals from enzyme reactions. This method uses immobilized enzymes to routinely achieve in situ ESR detection of transient radicals with lifetimes on the order of milliseconds. The method is extremely frugal in terms of the quantity of enzyme and substrate needed to perform an ESR experiment.
As of this date, the award has supported the purchase of the WebMO Pro, web-interface to Gaussian 03. Currently the free version of WebMO and Gaussian 03 is running on a MAC Pro and will soon be installed on Chris Fasano's (physics) parallel computer.
Ben, Blake, and Brad (hence referred to as B3) will begin our full time research efforts on May 26th, 2009. Stay tuned...
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