Date Thesis Awarded
4-2017
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Science (BS)
Department
Chemistry
Advisor
Douglas Young
Committee Members
Oliver Kerscher
Lisa Landino
John Poutsma
Abstract
Bioconjugations are utilized in many fields including materials science, biochemistry and medicine, despite the limited chemistries available in biomolecules. Unnatural amino acids can be used to expand the chemical diversity in proteins, affording a greater variety of functional groups for bioconjugations which. The site-specific incorporation of unnatural amino acids confers greater control and specificity over the reactions. Applications of unnatural amino acid based bioconjugations will be explored in this thesis. Optimization of solid supported immobilization of GFP and the extension of the technology to a carboxylesterase will be described. Fluorescent labeling of a medically relevant enzyme, Utag, will be optimized as the first step in developing a novel screening system for prostate cancer. Development of reactions to functionalize divalent bioconjugates into multivalent complexes will also be discussed. The utility of GFP containing an unnatural amino acid will be extended using various conjugation partners. Additionally, the unique chemistry of 3-fluorotyrosine will be utilized to study the radical pathway of a multifunctional hemoglobin, Dehaloperoxidase. In short, unnatural amino acid technology will be leveraged to explore novel applications and reactions of bioconjugates and the radical pathway of Dehaloperoxidase.
Recommended Citation
Howard, Christina A., "Utilization of Unnatural Amino Acids in Novel Bioconjugates and Probing Applications" (2017). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 1055.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1055
