Ronald Kluger

Current research and objectives

Students in our research group develop knowledge and skills in a broad variety of chemical and biochemical techniques, including organic synthesis, reaction kinetics, spectroscopy, enzymology, and protein chemistry. Those who complete a research project can find many resulting opportunities for careers in science, medicine, and business.

In one project, we alter hemoglobin based on chemical reaction designs for site-specific modification of the protein that lead to valuable pharmaceutical materials. Our chemical methods introduce linkages so that hemoglobin outside the red cell can function as a stable acellular oxygen carrier. Our current interest involves using the modified hemoglobin as an oxygen source that enhances the duration for survival of donor organs undergoing perfusion. The project is in collaboration with a lung transplant research group in the department of surgery at Toronto General Hospital. We make the modification of hemoglobin especially efficient and highly scalable by the application of methods that include "click" chemistry to couple hemoglobins tetramers and purification by tangential flow purification.

We also are discovering and analyzing mechanisms in chemical and biochemical processes that produce and release carbon dioxide into solution. The results inform us on the reaction mechanisms and will apply that knowledge to incorporate carbon dioxide into organic compounds.

Another project is developing methods to add amino acids efficiently to the 3'-terminal groups of transfer-RNA. This will allow direct introduction of natural and unnatural amino acids into proteins, an area with many applications.