Upgrade of 11.7 T NMR spectrometer and NMR computer

This is a project to upgrade the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility existing within the Chemistry Department of Pennsylvania State University. The upgrade includes an improved detection/frequency generation system for the 11.7 T spectrometer, the installation of a third channel for triple-resonance three-dimensional data set collection, and the replacement of the obsolete MicroVAX II computer by Silicon Graphics workstations. The upgraded instrumentation will be used to study, for example, the factors underlying catalysis and substrate binding in DNA polymerase I, T4 polymerase complex, dihydrofolate reductase and trifunctional enzymes in the de novo pathway for purine biosynthesis; stability and folding patterns of apo b heme proteins; determination of structural features of proteins in solution; and the mechanism by which the primary structure of a protein directs the rapid and efficient folding to the native conformation.