Research report 2009 - Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry

Electron spins as probes for biomolecules

Authors
Tkach, Igor und Bennati, Marina
Departments

Elektronenspinresonanz-Spektroskopie (PD Dr. Marina Bennati)
MPI für biophysikalische Chemie, Göttingen

Summary
Unpaired electrons possess a magnetic moment, which is about three orders of magnitude larger than the one of a proton. This moment can be employed as a highly sensitive probe in EPR spectroscopic investigations to gain structural information at the atomic up to the nanometer scale. The experiments provide insights into structural changes of biomolecules during their functional states. We have developed and implemented multi-frequency EPR methodologies to investigate enzymatic reactions in proteins and oligonucleotides.

For the full text, see the German version.

Go to Editor View