Professor
A.B. 1965, Univ. Pennsylvania, Ph D. 1970 Univ. Wisconsin,
NSF Fellow 1969-1970, Harvard Univ.
Organic Chemistry
Organic photochemistry, photochemical probes of structure
of biological macromolecules and macromolecular systems.
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Department
of Chemistry, 701A LGRT
University of Massachusetts
710 North Pleasant Street
Amherst, MA 01003-9336 |
office: 411 LGRT
Tower
tel: 413-577-6084; fax: 413-545-4490
hixson@chem.umass.edu
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Principal Research Interests
A major focus of our research is the application of photochemical techniques, the study
of the structure of biological macromolecules and macromolecular assemblies. Of particular current interest is the bacterial ribosome where we are seeking to elucidate the topography of the transfer RNA (tRNA) binding sites. In our approach photoreactive nucleosides are site-specifically substituted for natural nucleosides in a tRNA molecule—2-azidoadenosine for the adenosine of position 76 in tRNAPhe, for example. The modified tRNAs are then bound to the ribosome and irradiated with UV light, thereby establishing covalent crosslinks between the photoreactive nucleoside and nearby protein and/or RNA components of the ribosome. The sites of crosslinking within the ribosome are then identified.
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| Representative Publications
“New Photoreactive tRNA Derivatives for Probing the Peptidyl Transferase Center of the Ribosome,” A.V. Manuilov, S.S. Hixson and R.A. Zimmermann, RNA 13 (5), 793-800 (2007).
“Transit of tRNA through the Escherichia coli Ribosome: Cross-Linking of the 3’ End of tRNA to Ribosomal Proteins and Ribosomal RNA at the P and E Sites,” J. Wower, S.V. Kirillov, S.S. Hixson and R.A. Zimmermann, FEBS Lett. 514, 60-66 (2002).
“Transit of tRNA through the Escherichia coli Ribosome: Cross-linking of the 3’ End of tRNA to Specific Nucleotides of the 23S Ribosomal RNA at the A, P, and E Sites,” J. Wower, S.V. Kirillov, I.K. Wower, S. Guven, S.S. Hixson and R.A. Zimmermann, J. Biol. Chem. 275, 37887-37894 (2000). |
