Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Investigations Into The Role Of Conformational Dynamics In Protein Function: Insights From Hydrogen/Deuterium Exchange-Mass Spectrometry, Courtney S. Fast

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Deciphering protein structure and dynamics is a key prerequisite for understanding biological function. The current work aims to apply HDX-MS to improve the understanding of protein structure and dynamics for systems that remain challenging for other techniques. Following a general overview of the field (Chapter 1), Chapter 2 investigates the relationship between enzyme dynamics and catalysis. By conducting comparative HDX-MS measurements on rM1-PK during substrate turnover and in the resting state, catalytically active rM1-PK undergoes significant rigidification of the active site. However, virtually the same rigidification was seen upon exposing rM1-PK to substrate or product in the …