| J. Houston Miller, Ph.D. |
Professor,
Department of Chemistry, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences |
Corcoran Hall
Room 107
725 21st St. NW
Washington, DC 20052
202-994-7474
202-994-2298 (fax)
email: houston@gwu.edu
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| J. Houston Miller works on biotechnology projects following
two paths. In the first, he is developing a technique that combines
angle dependent light scattering (ADLS), fractal dimension (FD)
analysis and nanoparticle-protein assembly to detect and study
protein interactions and structure. This will be accomplished
by using ADLS to probe the formation and/or changes in structure
of Au-protein aggregates. The assembly and/or changes in structure
of these Au-protein aggregates will be triggered by specific
protein interactions with other proteins or small molecular
weight molecules. The angle dependent light scattering signal
and the fractal dimension of these Au-protein aggregates are
sensitive to concentration, size, shape, and physical properties
of both the proteins and the nanoparticles forming these aggregates.
By understanding the fractal dimension behavior of these aggregates
as a function of protein characteristics, such as protein size,
shape, number of binding sites will allow them to implement
this methodology as a biosensor in-situ for characterizing proteins
and for detecting and screening molecules that specifically
interact with proteins. The instrumentation he proposes to develop
will offer better sensitivity, faster detection, and higher
angle resolution than traditional light scattering methodologies.
He also proposes to study the formation of Au-biopolymer aggregates
dynamically, which is a necessary step to the eventual use of
biopolymer-modified nanoparticles as building blocks for nanostructure
assembly. In the second project, he is applying surface enhance
Raman scattering (SERS) to study the differences and changes
in vibrational spectra of amino acids and peptides attached
to gold nanoparticles as these peptides interact with target
proteins. In this work he will explore the use of SERS for molecules
anchored to nanoparticles to interrogate the interaction of
peptides with protein receptors. The proposed studies will ultimately
probe peptide-protein interactions, where the target proteins
are either isolated/purified or bound to cells. A series of
studies has been designed to provide an understanding of nanoparticle-peptide
chemistry and SERS sensitivity to various experimental conditions.
These initial studies are necessary to validate and guide the
method development, and to provide the background knowledge
necessary for studying peptide-receptor interactions. With the
information gained in these preliminary studies, application
of SERS to phage detection and detection of phage-host interactions
will be explored. This work is to be funded by a subcontract
of a NCI grant to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. |
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