Molecular Recognition in Biological Systems and Bioinformatics

Ligand synthesis including dynamic combinatorial methods; lanthanide luminescence; metal ion binding and metallodrug binding sites in DNA and RNA; lanthanide-based contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging; kinetics and mechanistic studies on synthetic enzymes.

Research in the Morrow laboratory is focused on three projects:

1) the development of small molecule catalysts that cleave a specific RNA molecule or structural motif,

2) the incorporation of metal ion binding nucleotide analogs into DNA for the development of new materials and sensors and

3) the development of magnetic resonance contrast agents that function through chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST).

Recent progress includes the application of direct excitation lanthanide luminescence to study metal ion binding motifs in RNA and DNA. These binding sites are further identified by using NMR spectroscopic analysis and lanthanide ion induced broadening of the nucleic acid proton resonances. This work is being extended to study the binding of metallodrug complexes and to develop new small molecule recognition agents. Recent studies of lanthanide based MRI contrast agents have two types of exchangeable protons that facilitate the development of ratiometric contrast agents. Complexes that show enhanced CEST properties upon binding to RNA have been discovered.

High powered narrow band excitation laser for lanthanide luminescence with long-lived excited states (micro-millisecond)

PeakFit, sigma plot, global analysis software.

Various synthetic RNAs

Drug design and imaging

• NMR and mass spectrometry in the chemistry instrument center
• laser-induced lanthanide luminescence

Macrocycles (large selection) most common metal ion salts and some synthetic antibiotics (smaller selection)

Synthesis, NMR spectroscopy, pH-potentiometry, chromatography, mass spectrometry

View at: http://www.chem.buffalo.edu/morrow_publications.php.