Project Director

Kim, Jisook

Department Examiner

Albu, Titus; Whitson, Stephanie; Nichols, Stephen

Department

Dept. of Chemistry

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Protein modifications may occur upon exposure to environmental toxins such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules or their metabolites. In this context, our laboratory was interested in investigating protein modifications in the presence of select naphthoquinones, which were 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (HNQ) and 1,2-naphthoquinone (o-NQ). The effects of HNQ and o-NQ on the protein Ribonuclease A (RNase) were investigated through a variety of conditions. These modified incubation conditions included pH variation and the addition of metal ions to further mimic physiological conditions. Documentation of results was carried out through sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic analysis (SDS-PAGE). Of the two quinones, o-NQ exhibited a greater level of activity toward RNase. HNQ was found to be stable under the studied conditions, resulting in almost no observed RNase modification. Linking environmentally abundant compounds to toxicological effects on biologically significant molecules can help to set precedents toward their usage and disposal that have a positive ripple effect.

Acknowledgments

Dr. Jisook Kim, Dr. Titus Albu, Dr. Stefanie Whitson, Dr. Stephen Nichols, The UT Chattanooga Chemistry Department, The Grote Chemistry Fund, and the Provost Student Research Award.

Degree

B. S.; An honors thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Science.

Date

5-2015

Subject

Proteins -- Analysis

Keyword

Ribonuclease A; Modification; Naphthoquinone; SDS-PAGE; protein

Discipline

Chemistry

Document Type

Theses

Extent

64 leaves

DCMI Type

Text

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Date Available

12-30-2018

Included in

Chemistry Commons

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