{"id":813,"date":"2015-10-06T18:17:35","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T18:17:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/?p=813"},"modified":"2015-10-06T18:17:35","modified_gmt":"2015-10-06T18:17:35","slug":"timothy-curran-awarded-nsf-grant-to-study-protein-shapes-using-new-molecule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/2015\/10\/06\/timothy-curran-awarded-nsf-grant-to-study-protein-shapes-using-new-molecule\/","title":{"rendered":"Timothy Curran Awarded NSF Grant to Study Protein Shapes Using New Molecule"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Curran<\/a>

The Curran Research Group for Summer 2015. Front row: Timothy P. Curran and Joe Sanderson-Brown ’18. Back row: Paul Handali ’18, Vu Nguyen ’17, Elena-Marie Pedro ’17, and Jack Suitor (University of Edinburgh).<\/p><\/div>\n

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $234,957 grant to Trinity College Professor of Chemistry Timothy P. Curran <\/a>to examine a potential new method of creating protein shapes called beta-sheets, which may have implications for understanding amyloid diseases like Alzheimer\u2019s disease. Curran is the principal investigator of the project, \u201cRUI: Investigations of a Novel, Bimetallic Ring System for Nucleating Beta-Sheets.\u201d<\/p>\n

The beta-sheet protein shape, Curran said, \u201cis found in the protein plaques that form in the brains of Alzheimer\u2019s patients, clogging the brain\u2019s neurons.\u201d With this grant-funded project, Curran plans to investigate how these beta-sheets form and how they might be broken up.<\/p>\n

Curran and his undergraduate students have discovered a cyclic, air-stable molecule that includes the metals tungsten and iron, which can position two protein chains next to each other as found in beta-sheets. \u201cWe have a model chemical system that we think might be able to generate beta-sheets, and then examine how they aggregate,\u201d he said. \u201cLong-range, this could help combat diseases like Alzheimer\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to funding Curran\u2019s research, the grant also includes funds to support three students for three summers and allows them to travel with Curran. \u201cThis grant offers a great opportunity for students,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Curran, chair of Trinity\u2019s Chemistry Department, spent this past summer working with Trinity students from all over the world. \u201cThey were from Trinidad, Great Britain, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Windsor, Connecticut,\u201d said Curran, who is a resident of Wethersfield.<\/p>\n

Curran said that his students were partly responsible for leading him to the particular line of inquiry pursued by this project. \u201cThis one came about because Allison Lawrence \u201910 in my lab made a discovery about this molecule that had a particular shape,\u201d he said. \u201cIn our lab, we make molecules that no one has ever made before. A student who makes a new molecule in my lab is the first person in the history of the planet to make that molecule. It\u2019s one of the ways they can be unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many undergraduate students use their time in Curran\u2019s laboratory to get a sense of what conducting scientific research is like. \u201cThey can see if they\u2019re good at it and whether they like it or not,\u201d Curran said. \u201cYou have to have a thick skin. Things won\u2019t work all the time, and there are lots of unexpected problems that come up. You see quickly if they like working their way through the problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Involving students in research has always been important to Curran, who hopes to inspire a new generation of scientists. \u201cI wanted to work at a school like Trinity because I started in science by having people let me work in their labs in the summertime, and I wanted to do the same thing for other students,\u201d he said. \u201cI like seeing students succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Written by Andrew J. Concatelli<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $234,957 grant to Trinity College Professor of Chemistry Timothy P. Curran to examine a potential new method of creating protein shapes called beta-sheets, which may have implications for understanding amyloid diseases like Alzheimer\u2019s disease. Curran is the principal investigator of the project, \u201cRUI: Investigations of a Novel, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1424,"featured_media":814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[28],"tags":[234,64,63,83,241],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1424"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":815,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813\/revisions\/815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}