Biophysical Chemistry Research at the UW-Madison Chemistry Department
Biological systems lie at the very core of life. They are complex and fascinating at the same time, and offer ideal research benchmarks research benchmarks for spectroscopic and quantitative investigations. Biomolecules can either be regarded as intriguing starting materials for structural and mechanistic investigations or as sources of inspiration for the design of completely new and useful molecular devices. In both cases they offer unlimited opportunities for exciting scientific discoveries.
The Chemistry Department at UW-Madison has an extraordinarily strong and diverse research program in biophysical research. The most sophisticated state-of-art tools are available to study proteins, peptides, carbohydrates, DNA and RNA. These span from surface plasmon resonance imaging, multidimensional nuclear magnetic resonance, nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy, fluorescence-based single molecule spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, ultrafast mixing, combinatorial chemistry and powerful computers. Most of the research being done in the biological field is highly interdisciplinary and it cuts across traditional division boundaries. This gives the graduate students a unique opportunity to learn principles and practice of a number of techniques while staying focused on an exciting research problem.
Some of the questions which are vigorously pursued in our department are: What are the molecular motions that allow enzymes to perform their biological function? How do RNA and proteins become folded into their bioactive conformation in vitro and in a living cell? How do ion channels drive charges across the cell membrane? How is it possible to better sequence and interpret the entire human genome? What is the specific structure of enzymes at their active site? How do viruses assemble and function? Can we create DNA-based computers?
Faculty Research
The above are just some of the many exciting topics studied in our research groups. The breadth and diversity of the biophysical research carried out in the Chemistry Department is best summarized by the faculty research interests below.
THOMAS C. BRUNOLD
Spectroscopic and computational methods to obtain molecular level insight into metalloprotein functions.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/brunold
JUDITH N. BURSTYN
Metalloenzyme structure and function; Inorganic reagents for molecular biology.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/burstyn
SILVIA CAVAGNERO
High resolution protein folding and misfolding mechanisms in the cell and in vitro; Kinetic channeling in folding; RNA folding; Multidimensional NMR spectroscopy.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/cavagner
JOSH COON
Mass spectrometry-based (MS) proteomic technologies; Intracellular signaling; Epigenetic regulation of pluripotency; Protein phosphorylation; Cancer biomarker discovery; Whole protein sequencing; Proteomics of mitochrondial dysfunction
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/jcoon
QIANG CUI
Computational and theoretical approaches to analyze the functions of
enzymes, molecular motors and ion transporters.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/cui
SAMUEL H. GELLMAN
Protein design; Protein stability; Design of unnatural oligomers with well-defined conformations ("foldamers"); Medicinal applications of foldamers.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/gellman
ROBERT J. HAMERS
Interfaces of biological molecules with semiconductors and nanoscale materials; Bio-electronics and electronic biosensing; Surface chemistry of biological molecules.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/hamers
LAURA L. KIESSLING
Biomolecular recognition processes; the chemistry and biology of protein-saccharide interactions.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/kiesslin
RONALD T. RAINES
Protein structure - function relationships; Design of new proteins with useful properties.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/raines
M. THOMAS RECORD
Noncovalent protein-DNA interactions; Experimental and computational thermodynamic studies; Kinetics and mechanisms of global conformational changes coupled to binding.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/record
DAVID C. SCHWARTZ
Single molecule systems and their applications to the genomic sciences.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/schwartz
LLOYD M. SMITH
New strategies, instruments, and chemistries for the analysis of biological systems; Biological mass spectrometry: New tools to analyze the proteomes of single cells; Biologically modified surfaces for DNA computing and other applications.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/smith
FRANK A. WEINHOLD
Quantum chemical studies of H-bonded clusters in liquids and enzymes.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/weinhold
JAMES C. WEISSHAAR
Single-molecule fluorescence studies of protein oligomerization and dynamics; protein-DNA interactions; assembly of vesicle fusion machinery in vitro; trafficking of secretory vesicles in live cells.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/weisshaa
JOHN C. WRIGHT
Two dimensional nonlinear vibrational laser spectroscopy of the structure
and interactions in biochemical molecules.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/wright
MARTIN ZANNI
Molecular structures and dynamics through vibrational motions and couplings; advancing the technology behind 2D IR spectroscopies as well as applying these new techniques to study chemistry and biology.
http://www.chem.wisc.edu/users/zanni