Prof. Rachel Martin from UC Irvine
Friday April 30, 2010, 10am
Silver 1001P
Host: Alexej Jerschow
Study of Oriented Systems by Switched angle spinning NMR Methods
Structure determination of membrane proteins is a challenging problem, since they are
difficult to crystallize or solubilize for standard structural biology techniques. Because
solid-state NMR requires only local order and has no inherent size limit, it has the
potential for developing more generalized methods. Recent work in my group focuses on
optimizing Switched Angle Spinning (SAS) NMR hardware and experiments for
measuring scaled dipolar couplings in oriented membrane systems. We have built a
probe incorporating a transverse, high-homogeneity radiofrequency coil that is connected
to the rest of the circuit via capacitive coupling and moves with the sample. Simulations
and experiments have been used to investigate the modulation of dipolar couplings away
from the magic angle in different types of orienting media. Data from both model
systems and proteins will be presented and future applications to more complex systems
will be discussed.