Structural Snapshots from Novel Ultrafast Vibrational Spectroscopies:Capturing the Mechanistic Insights of Functional Biomolecul

Observing the vibrational spectra of biomolecules in real time offers the exciting possibility to track ultrafast structural dynamic changes of the photoexcited chromophore if by stimulated Raman, or conformational dynamics of protein residues if extending into the IR regime and going multidimensional. When correlated with X-ray crystallography, mutagenesis, isotope labeling, normal mode calculations and molecular dynamics simulation, the novel spectroscopic information to be obtained in my laboratory will be analyzed to reveal the fundamental physical and chemical mechanisms for the structural basis of biomolecular functions, providing deep insights and strong guidelines for designing the next-generation fluorescent labels for live-cell imaging as well as new therapeutics for cardiovascular diseases, HIV/AIDS, and cancer. In particular, photoactivatable and photoswitchable fluorescent proteins, membrane integrins, and HIV-1 protease-drug complex will be discussed.