SCAN: Raman spectroscopy in studies of metalloproteins

Abstract:

Resonance Raman spectroscopy of metalloprorteins, including heme, blue copper, non-hemic iron and iron-sulfur proteins can reveal highly specific information on discrete metal site(s) within the protein. It is capable of providing information on: coordination pattern of the metal center, thermodynamic parameters that control electron transfer in redox proteins, or structure of short-lived intermediates of the catalytic cycle of heme proteins.
In this talk, basic concepts of different Raman techniques will be presented, together with examples of application of Raman spectroscopy to a wide variety of structurally and functionally different proteins. More specifically, it will be shown how structural information can be extracted from Raman data, what we can learn about ligand binding to the protein active center, or about redox behavior of respiratory chain complexes embedded into structures that mimic some basic features of physiological membrane.