Chemistry, Department of
Department of Chemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
First Advisor
Jiantao Guo
Date of this Version
5-2017
Document Type
Thesis
Citation
A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science
Major: Chemistry
Under the supervision of Professor Jiantao Guo.
Lincoln, Nebraska, May, 2017
Abstract
Nitric oxide (NO) is an important molecule in living cells for signaling, thus a specific sensor to detect its level in live cells is needed. Currently there are a few small molecule probes for the detection of NO. A common shortcoming of these probes is their unavoidable leakage from the target cells. In this project, I seek to develop a novel green fluorescent protein (GFP)-based biosensor to detect cellular NO. This GFP-based sensor is genetically encodable and can potentially avoid the possible false positive result due to the leakage. I synthesized an unnatural amino acid (unAA) and examined its incorporation into GFP to replace the chromophore-forming tyrosine 66. I also investigated the ability of this unAA to detect NO.
Advisor: Jiantao Guo
Comments
Copyright 2017, Wenjia Zhai. Used by permission