Explorations In Biomolecular Interactions:Experiment And Theory

The chemistry of biology is mediated by interactions between proteins, ligands, and small molecules. Understanding the mechanism of these interactions is critical for applications in drug development and biotechnology. In the Webb Laboratory, we investigate electrostatic interactions at protein-protein and protein-surface interfaces with a particular interest in discovering the role of electrostatics in these interactions as well as exploiting the very same in order to develop new bio-inorganic hybrid technologies, such as bio-sensors. This work demonstrates an attempt to direct the immobilization of an electron transfer protein, Azurin, to an inorganic surface without relying on covalent bonding. Instead, a peptide engineered to complement the electrostaticprofile of Azurin’s surface is functionalized to a surface via a self-assembled monolayer and the Huisgen ‘Click’ reaction. Experimental methods such as infrared and mass spectroscopy are used to study the characteristics of the peptide-protein, peptide-surface, and protein-surface interactions. Likewise, computational methods were employed in order to design the peptide binding partner. Together, this work represents a step in an ongoing effort to marry computational and experimental tools in order to direct hypothesis driven science