College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

Spring 6-14-2013

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Physics

First Advisor

Eric Landahl, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Jesus Pando, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Anuj Sarma, Ph.D.

Abstract

Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) is a rapidly developing technique for determining the structures of proteins in solution. This thesis presents new solution structures of two proteins:cold denatured equine cytochrome-c,and mitochondrial rho (miro).Cytochrome-cis a modelsystem for protein folding and stability studies;this work demonstrates the interplay of thermodynamic forces in determining the global shape of unfolded proteins.Whereas denatured cytochrome-cis not able to form crystals in principle,miro is a newly purified protein of which no crystal structure is availablein any conditions.We have used our SAXS data to verify conjectures for miro's structure based solely on protein sequence analysis.

Included in

Physics Commons

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