Talaga Group
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and protein conformational dynamics
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J Phys Chem Cover Features Talaga Group Research
The Journal of Physical Chemistry has selected Prof. Talaga's paper "Information-Theoretical Analysis of Time-Correlated Single-Photon Counting Measurements of Single Molecules" for the cover of their April 30, 2009 issue.
David S. Talaga, "Information-Theoretical Analysis of Time-Correlated Single-Photon Counting Measurements of Single Molecules" J. Phys. Chem. A (2009) 113:17 5251-5263
Time-correlated single photon counting allows luminescence lifetime information to be determined on a single molecule level. This paper develops a formalism to allow information theory analysis of the ability of luminescence lifetime measurements to resolve states in a single molecule. It analyzes the information content of the photon stream and the fraction of that information that is relevant to the state determination problem. Experimental losses of information due to instrument response, digitization, and different types of background are calculated and a procedure to determine the optimal value of experimental parameters is demonstrated. This paper shows how to use the information theoretical formalism to evaluate the number of photons required to distinguish dyes that differ only by lifetime. It extends this idea to include distinguishing molecular states that differ in the electron transfer quenching or resonant energy transfer and shows how the differences between the lifetime of signal and background can help distinguish the dye position in an excitation beam.
Biophysical Society Meeting, Boston, MA, 2009.
Folded and Unfolded Single Proteins Analyzed by Their Solid State Nanopore Translocation Dynamics
Jiali Li, David S. Talaga
Abstract The translocation of biological polymers through individual nanometer-scale pores is vital to cellular function and has great potential for technological applications in protein or nucleic acid measurements and identification. Research into this area has been focussed on characterizing the physics of translocation through voltage-biased nanopores and exploiting it to identify or sequence biological polymers. Here we show that the DNA-calibrated translocation signals of ß-lactoglobulin and histidine-containing phosphocarrier protein match quantitatively with that predicted by a simple sum of the partial volumes of the amino acids present in the pore when it stalls due to its primary charge. Our analysis suggests that the majority of the protein molecules were linear or looped during translocation suggesting that physiologically relevant potentials can unfold proteins. Our results suggest that the nanopore translocation physics and signals are sensitive enough to distinguish between proteins based on the excluded volume of a local segment of the polypeptide chain and the primary sequence of charges.
Rutgers Chemistry Cracks top 5
Chemistry and Engineering News reported that Rutgers Chemistry was ranked 5th in Federal funding for Chemistry research during 2006 by the NSF.
HVAC Issues continue.
The air handlers in the 72 wing continue to fail on a regular basis.
64th Southwest Regional Meeting of the ACS, Little Rock, AR, October 1-4 (2008), SWRM-206.
Solvent Dependent Fluorescence Characterization of Acrylodan
Reyes, Marco A.; Messina, Troy C.; Pronchik, Jeremy N. C.; Talaga, David S.
Abstract: Acrylodan (6-acryloyl-2-dimethylaminonaphthalene) is a solvatochromic fluorophore used extensively to study bio-mol. structure/function relationships. However, to date very little quant. acrylodan fluorescence data is available for correlating known solvent conditions to biol. and biochem. environments. We have made two sep. acrylodan moeities by conjugating acrylodan with cysteine and beta-mercaptoethanol. These acrylodan adducts were used to quantify solvatochromic shifts and fluorescent lifetimes for varying solvent polarities, pH, and for protic and aprotic solvents. Details of the acrylodan conjugation and fluorescence results will be discussed.
Talaga Group awarded Aresty research grant
Pratik Suratia was awarded a research grant by the Aresty Undergraduate research center for his project that studies the effects of AC bias on the protein transport through a polycarbonate nanocapillary array membrane.
The Aresty undergraduate research center assists students in learning about the process of undergraduate research, identifying faculty mentors or projects, defining research goals, seeking guidance in the ethical aspects of doing research, and presenting their findings to the university and the general public. Aresty also provides grants to defray the costs of research and travel expenses to conferences. Students who are awarded funding through this program present their research at the Aresty Research Symposium in the spring.
Congratulations Pratik!