Frederick D. Lewis, George C. Schatz, Michael R. Wasielewski (all at Northwestern University), Torsten Fiebig (Boston College) and Alexander L. Burin (Tulane University) are jointly supported for research into the electronic structure of DNA. More specific objectives include the investigation of the nuclear and electronic structure of short, well-defined duplex base pair domains in both the ground and electronically excited states; and investigation of the structural and electronic changes which occur upon the oxidation or reduction of duplex domains. The team will study short stable base pair domains in custom-designed hairpin and dumbbell structures. A wide range of state-of-the-art time-resolved spectroscopic, computational, and structural techniques will be used to probe how the structural changes within DNA are coupled to the properties of excited and ion states within it. Experimental approaches include molecular design and synthesis, spectroscopy, time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy, time-resolved EPR spectroscopy, molecular dynamics, time-resolved circular dichroism, and electronic structure calculations. David Tiede (Argonne National Laboratory) will also collaborate with the team and bring expertise in time-resolved diffraction techniques. The structural and functional integrity of DNA is critical to its role in biology, so that this project will provide fundamental information on how light and chemical agents introduce reactive sites within DNA, which change its structure and potentially alter its function. The anticipated outcomes of this collaboration include elucidation of the properties of neutral and ionized short DNA base-pair domains, training of undergraduate and graduate students in an important interdisciplinary area, and providing a model for interlocking collaboration among investigators with varying experience and in different research environments. This project is supported by the Collaborative Research in Chemistry Program.
Funding: NSF CRC DNA Photonics
Collaborators
- Frederick D. Lewis (Northwestern University
- George C. Schatz (Northwestern University)
- Michael Wasielewskii (Northwestern University)
- Torsten Fiebig (Boston College)
- David Tiede (Argonne National Laboratory)
- Bonnie Gersten (Department of Energy)
- Jacek Matulewski (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, POLAND)
- Mark Ratner (Northwestern University, Postdoc Advisor)
- Yuri Berlin (most left, Northwestern University, the guy who taught me Chemistry)
Group members and associates previously involved in the project:
- Heiko Jacobsen (Professor of Practice)
- Jason Dickman (Undergraduate Student)
- Balamurugan Desinghu (Postdoctoral Fellow)
- Yuri Sereda (Graduate Student)
- Scott Knowles (Undergraduate Student)
- Siddardth Thakhur (Undergraduate Student)
- Amy Finch (Undergraduate Student)
Related Publications
Recent
A. L. Burin, J. A. Dickman, D. B. Uskov, C. F. F. Hebbard, G. C. Schatz, Optical absorption spectra and monomer interaction in polymers: Investigation of exciton coupling in DNA hairpins, Journal of Chemical Physics 129, 091102 (2008).
A. L. Burin, D. B. Uskov, Strong localization of positive charge in DNA induced by its interaction with environment, Journal of Chemical Physics 129, 025101 (2008).
D. B. Uskov, A. L. Burin, Strong localization of positive charge in DNA from a charge-balance theory, Physical Review B 78, 073106 (2008).
Earlier Significant Related Publications
V. V. Ponkratov, J. Friedrich, J. M. Vanderkooi, A. L. Burin, Y. A. Berlin, Physics of Proteins at Low Temperature, Journal of Low Temperature Physics, v. 137, pp. 289-319, 2004.
D. Beratan, Yu. A. Berlin, I. V. Kurnikov, M. A. Ratner, A. L. Burin, DNA Electron Transfer Processes: Some Theoretical Notions, Topics in Current Chemistry, v. 237, pp. 1-36, 2004.
Yu. A. Berlin, A. L. Burin, M. A. Ratner, Elementary Steps for Charge Transport in DNA: Thermal Activation vs. Tunneling, Chemical Physics, v. 275, pp. 61-74, 2002.
Yu. A. Berlin, A. L. Burin, M. A. Ratner, Charge Hopping in DNA, Journal of the American Chemical Society, v. 123, no. 2, pp. 260-268, 2001.
Yu. A. Berlin, A. L. Burin, M. A. Ratner, DNA as a Molecular Wire, Superlattices and Microstructures, v. 28, pp. 241-252, 2000.
A. Nitzan, J. Jortner, J. Wilkie, A. L. Burin, M. A. Ratner, Tunneling Time for Electron Transfer Reactions, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, v. 104, pp. 5661 – 5665, 2000.
