Prev. Article Next Article Table of Contents

Article

Fluorescence Spectroscopy of tRNAPhe Y Base in the Presence of Mg2+ and Small Molecule Ligands

Your current credentials do not allow retrieval of the full text.

Purchase the full-text

PDF/HTML,
figures/images,
references and tables,
(where available)

Sarah R. Kirk , Todd P. Silverstein and Karen L. McFarlane Holman

Department of Chemistry, Willamette University, Salem, OR 97301

J. Chem. Educ., 2008, 85 (5), p 678

DOI: 10.1021/ed085p678

Publication Date (Web): May 1, 2008

Abstract

This laboratory project is one component of a semester-long advanced biochemistry laboratory course that uses several complementary techniques to study tRNA^Phe conformational changes induced by ligand binding. In this article we describe a set of experiments in which students use fluorescence spectroscopy to study tRNA^Phe structure. Both intrinsic (Y Base) and extrinsic (ethidium bromide) fluorescence probes are monitored. Ligands (e.g., spermine, neomycin B, magnesium) are titrated into tRNA^Phe solution and changes in fluorescence intensity are monitored. Students fit the data to hyperbolic saturation curves to determine ligand-binding equilibrium constants and draw conclusions on how different binding modes affect tRNA^Phe tertiary structure.

Keywords (Audience):

Upper-Division Undergraduate

Keywords (Domain):

Biochemistry

Keywords (Pedagogy):

Hands-On Learning / Manipulatives

Keywords (Subject):

Bioinorganic Chemistry

View: Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links

Citing Articles

Citation data is made available by participants in CrossRef's Cited-by Linking service. For a more comprehensive list of citations to this article, users are encouraged to perform a search in SciFinder.

This article has been cited by 1 ACS Journal articles (1 most recent appear below).

Analysis of Dextromethorphan in Cough Drops and Syrups: A Medicinal Chemistry Laboratory
Todd M. Hamilton and Frank L. Wiseman Jr.
Journal of Chemical Education2009 86 (4), 479
- Analysis of Dextromethorphan in Cough Drops and Syrups: A Medicinal Chemistry Laboratory
  Todd M. Hamilton and Frank L. Wiseman Jr.
  Journal of Chemical Education2009 86 (4), 479
  Fluorescence spectroscopy is used to determine the quantity of dextromethorphan hydrobromide (DM) in over-the-counter (OTC) cough drops and syrups. This experiment is appropriate for an undergraduate medicinal chemistry laboratory course when studying OTC ...
  Abstract | Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links