We investigate a family of proteins called pentapeptide repeat proteins in attempt to solve their structures and functions within cyanobacteria. We attempt to solve protein structures through protein X-ray crystallography and attempt to solve the function of our proteins through various methods including generating growth curves, filament length distributions, monitoring heterocyst formation frequencies and patterns, […]
A41: ATP Binding and Hydrolysis of ER Protein-Folding Chaperones BiP and JB11
Molecular chaperones are abundant and conserved proteins in the cytosol, mitochondria, nucleus and endoplasmic reticulum that help protein clients fold to their active conformation known as the native state. The structure and mechanism of these chaperones holds significance because of their association with cancer and metabolic disease. The heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) family of […]
A42: Implications of ERdj6 Mutation on Co-Chaperone Ability and Oligomerization
Within the field of biochemistry, chaperone and co-chaperone proteins are of important significance due to their vital role in assisting protein folding. ERdj6 is an Hsp40 co-chaperone that works with Hsp70 to facilitate client binding and folding. ERdj6 was grown and purified in E. Coli, with wild-type and mutant protein samples grown. Within Hsp40 proteins […]
C36: Exploring Oil Spill Remediation
Many things that we depend on with transportation come from oil. Whether it is our package arriving on time to grocery store food being driven across the country. But that oil needs to be dug up from somewhere, and mistakes can happen. Over the course of humans digging up oil there have been multiple oil […]
A75: Engineering Auto-catalytic CRISPR-Cas Sensors for Ultra-sensitive Lead Detection
Lead is a useful element, particularly in industrial settings, but too much exposure can cause lead poisoning and prove to be very dangerous. Symptoms include anemia, kidney and brain damage, and even death. Especially concerning to young children are the neurological and developmental defects caused by lead exposure. The water crisis in Flint, Michigan highlighted […]
B11: Synthesis and Conformational Analysis of Oligo-Pyrazine Foldamers
As a part of the Hartley research lab, this organic chemistry project is focused on the synthesis and structural study of pyrazine foldamers. Foldamers, which are a class of compounds that fold into an ordered state in solution, can mimic the geometries of nucleic acids and proteins. The goal of the project was to determine […]
B12: Substituent Effects of Carbodiimide Fuel Reactivity
In biology, out-of-equilibrium, or “dissipative,” systems are crucial to functionality, using a constant supply of energy to continually function. We can mimic this behavior simply using chemical fuel reactions that result in the formation of a transient bond. Most other groups studying systems of this kind have used 1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) as the fuel. Here, […]
B22: How Universal is Arrhenius Behavior?
Diels-Alder click chemistry is a widely researched topic of chemistry through which polymers can be synthesized under relatively mild conditions. These polymers can then be crosslinked through Diels-Alder (DA) chemistry into materials containing temperature responsive linkers. In this project, DA bonded materials of varying crosslink density and polymer length were made into gel-like materials and […]
B71: Structure-Property Relationships in Carbon Nanotube Enhanced Dynamic Block Copolymers
Dynamic polymers are a new class of polymers known for their physical properties such as adaptability, self-healing, shape-memory, stimuli-responsiveness, and enhanced recyclability. Dynamic polymers respond to biochemical stimuli and physicochemical stimuli such as pH, light, electric field, temperature, and pressure. Dynamic properties in polymer materials can be due to either dynamic covalent bonds or non-covalent […]
C38: Japan’s Advancing Technology and Tsunami Intensity; A Cost Analysis
The general area of our research is tsunamis in Japan. Looking for the answer to our research question How has the advancement of Technology affect Cost of Natural Disaster Budget? We are conducting a cost analysis on the current warning systems/damage prevention systems from the past, present, and newly developed. At the same time, how […]