Amir Goldbourt

Biography

Amir Goldbourt is working as Professor, School of Chemistry, Tel Aviv University, Israel. Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute of Science. Their group uses Magic-angle spinning (MAS) solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and develops methodologies, to unravel in atomic-resolution the structures of proteins, enzymes and other biological assemblies.

Research Interest

Our group uses Magic-angle spinning (MAS) solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and develops methodologies, to unravel in atomic-resolution the structures of proteins, enzymes and other biological assemblies. We study viruses, cellulose binding proteins, enzymes associated with mental illness and filamentous structures. We develop techniques for the measurement of accurate inter-atomic distances. In particular we focus on metal ions possessing large quadrupolar moments, on metal ions possessing other large anisotropic interactions and on other 'difficult' atoms (e.g. nuclei with low gyromagnetic ratios, low natural abundance, small spectral dispersion etc.) We develop techniques for lithium NMR spectroscopy. Lithium, in the form of lithium carbonate, is a medication for bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. Aside from NMR, hardly any spectroscopic techniques exist that can be used to characterize its binding site due to lithium's low atomic mass and low binding affinities. We develop methods to solve structures of known crystalline proteins In order to improve, promote and strengthen the technique of protein MAS NMR spectroscopy in view of the current known methods of crystallography and solution NMR.