Spectroscopy of Hydrated Biomolecules

Matt Bush

The in vivo structure of biomolecules is the result of both intramolecular interactions intrinsic to the molecule and intermolecular interactions with surrounding solvent and ions. These effects are each significant and often favor radically different structures.

With Evan Williams's research group, we are exploring the structure of electrospray generated, hydrated clusters of amino acids using infrared spectroscopy and ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. This coupling offers flexibility (plethora of accessible ion clusters), sensitivity (ions are detected with high S/N), and specificity (ions of interest are isolated).