Catalog - Chemistry UG Course Web Pages Council of Majors Dept. Assistant Professor Ph. Mass spectrometry, in particular, has an enormous potential in this area, as demonstrated by the explosion of reports appeared in recent years. DNA is the most important target of alkylation by a long list of endogenous and exogenous mutagens.
Damage can have long term effects on the individual cell and potentially on the whole organism.
In the continuous effort aimed at devising countermeasures and refining diagnostic tools for the earliest detection of cancer, it is of paramount importance to understand the mechanism of damage at the molecular level and to recognize its effect on the binding of gene regulating proteins. ESI is currently used in my group to study the interaction between nucleic acids and nucleic acid-binding proteins. The recognition of the putative binding site on the nucleic acid strongly depends on the 3-dimensional structure of both protein and nucleic acid involved. Gas phase sequencing through collision-induced dissociation and enzymatic ladder protocols are used to locate the site of adduction. ESI can be used to assess the effects of the adducts on protein binding.