Glenna Smith
Contact Information
Office:	GCIS ESB 024
Lab:	GCIS ESB
Phone:	773-834-1877
Fax:	773-702-0805
Email:	glenna at uchicago.edu
Education
2003:	M.S. Chemistry, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2001:	B.S. Chemistry, B.A. Math, University of California, Santa Cruz
Research Abstract
Variable Site-Labeled Single Molecule FRET Characterizes the Structural Changes of a Large RNA (BPS 2005 Abstract)
RNA folds into specific yet non-rigid structures to carry out catalytic functions or participate in macromolecular recognition. Folding of large RNAs is a very complex process in which substructures of the native conformation can form by sequential or cooperative pathways. Characterizing a folding pathway requires determining the structural changes that occur along the pathway, as well as measurement of the kinetics for structural interconversion. The progression of structure formation can be mapped by examining pairwise distance correlations between helices that are formed in the RNA’s native folded state. Distance correlations are accessible through the efficiency of Fluorescence Resonant Energy Transfer (FRET) between two fluorophores attached to pairs of substructures within the RNA. We recently developed a method to site-specifically labeling large RNAs by oligonucleotide hybridization to specific sequences inserted into loop regions of the RNase P ribozyme. By using this labeling method, we “walk?our FRET pair around the RNase P structure to build up a global picture of the pairwise distance correlations between substructural elements along the folding pathway of this large RNA. Results from solution FRET - Florescence correlation spectroscopy (FRET-FCS) and surface immobilized single ribozyme molecules labeled as various pairs of sites will be presented. These early results allow determining the sequence of tertiary structural changes.