Enzymes are the quintessential molecular machines
whose structures are defined by and integral to their
function. Enzyme structures undergo quasi-harmonic
motions on timescales ranging from 10-15
to 102
sec that are critical to enzyme function. Discerning
these mtion and probing the role of concerted mtions
in enzyme function is a task well-suited to nuclear
magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. NMR also offers
insights into local structural changes that occur
upon substrate binding, making it a comprehensive
tool for understanding enzyme activity.
Brandeis has a long and distinguished history in
the field of bio-molecular NMR. Professor
Redfield is one of the pioneers of this area,
and is currently developing field-cycling methods
for mapping of spectral densities over frequency ranges
that encompass functionally important motions, but
have heretofore been inaccessible to solution NMR.
