Michael Trakselis

 

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry

801 Chevron

412-624-1204, 8611(fax)

mtraksel@pitt.edu

http://cwt4.chem.pitt.edu/people/faculty.asp?FacID=81 

 

Michael Trakselis’ research aims to take advantage of various proteins whose function is to encircle and slide along DNA to direct synthetic polymer catalysis. An organic catalyst can be attached via an engineered cysteine residue within proteins to construct a bio-hybrid system that has the potential to carry out processive catalysis on polymers threads which have similar properties to DNA. This group is initially examining various biological protein toroids from DNA replication and repair systems as the scaffold for this catalyst. Once loaded onto synthetic DNA like polymers, these bio-hybrid catalysts will react and slide along the length of the polymer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Protein ring directed polymer catalysis: Spacefill models of A) DNA and B) a DNA-like polymer. C) Schematic and methodology of the proposed reaction.