Dr. Katharina Gaus Scientific co-worker Room: F2-138 Phone: 0521 106 2604 E-Mail:

Molecular functionality is often determined by the three-dimensional structure of the reactants, especially in biological processes. Therefore, understanding of structure and structure-activity-relationships is important in present-day science. A prominent method to elucidate three-dimensional structures is NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy in combination with molecular dynamics calculations.

This methodology is applied to different problems. In order to understand the structure-activity-relationship of cyclic RGD-peptides and their binding to integrins, a number of these peptides are investigated. Secondly, the binding of transcription factor PhoB epitopes to DNA is explored. In addition, a photoswitchable molecule (para-AzoTANDEM) derived from the quinoxaline antibiotic Triostin A is studied in regard to its photoswitchability, structure and DNA binding.

1. K. Wollschläger, K. Gaus, A. Körnig, R. Eckel, S. D. Wilking, M. McIntosh, Z. Majer, A. Becker, R. Ros, D. Anselmetti, N. Sewald, Single-Molecule Experiments to Elucidate the Minimal Requirements for DNA Recognition by Transcription Factor Epitopes, Small 2009, 5, 484-496.

   
   

2. K. Gaus, K. Wollschläger, A. Zobel, A. Niefl, G. Korff, J. Juodaityte, N. Sewald, C. Kleimann, A. Sischka, D. Anselmetti, Structure Analysis and Binding Studies on Photoswitchable Derivatives of Triostin A, 9th German Peptide Symposium, Göttingen, 11.-14.03.2009.

   
   

3. K. Gaus, K. Wollschläger, A. Zobel, G. Korff, J. Juodaityte, C. Kleimann, A. Sischka, D. Anselmetti, N. Sewald, Photoswitchable DNA Bis-Intercalators - Structure and Activity, J. Pept. Sci., Supplement 2008, 14, 192.

   
   

4. S. Urman, K. Gaus, Y. Yang, U. Strijowski, N. Sewald, S. De Pol, O. Reiser, Die gerüststarre Aminos‰ure β-Acc verleiht Integrinliganden Aktivität und Selektivität, Angew. Chem. 2007, 119, 4050-4053; The Constrained Amino Acid β-Acc Confers Potency and Selectivity to Integrin Ligands, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 3976-3978.

   
   

5. K. Gaus, S. Urman, Y. Yang, U. Strijowski, S. De Pol, O. Reiser, N. Sewald, Conformational Studies of Two New Cyclic Peptides with Inhibitory Activity on Ligand-Integrin-Binding, J. Pept. Sci., Supplement 2006, 12, 172.

   
   

6. N. Sewald, S. D. Wilking, R. Eckel, S. Albu, K. Wollschläger, K. Gaus, A. Becker, F. W. Bartels, R. Ros, D. Anselmetti, Probing DNA-Peptide Interaction Forces on the Single-Molecule Level, J. Pept. Sci. 2006, 12, 836-842.

   
   

7. K. Gaus, P. Rösch, R. Petry, K.-D. Peschke, O. Ronneberger, H. Burkhardt, K. Baumann, J. Popp, Classification of Lactic Acid Bacteria with UV-Resonance Raman Spectroscopy, Biopolymers 2006, 82, 286-290.