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B.S. 1961 (Chemistry), Stanford; Ph.D. 1966 (Chemistry), Stanford; National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship 1966, Tohoku University, Sendai Japan; Varian Associates Postdoctoral Fellowship 1967; Research Associate, Stanford 1968-1973; NIH Research Career Development Award, 1975-80; Assistant Professor to Professor, Johns Hopkins University, 1974-1996. Professor, Florida State University, 1996-present. 1994: Plenary Lecturer, Ninth International Conference on Prostaglandins and Related Compounds, Florence, Italy. Member, editorial boards of Journal of Magnetic Resonance and Biophysical Journal.

Research and Professional Interests:

Lipids and arachidonic acid mediators; molecular redox mechanisms; magnetic resonance.

We study the roles of unsaturated fatty acids in cells from several views. Recent studies focus on structure-function relationships of enzymes in arachidonic acid/oxylipin cascades, including iron and manganese lipoxygenases from several species and a novel allene oxide synthase from Plexaura homomalla. Oxidation and reduction of metal centers are key events in the mechanisms of these enzymes. We also specialize in studying redox-active enzymes by high- and low-frequency electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The instrumentation for the high-field studies operates at 94 GHz and is equipped for magnetic-field scans from 0 to 6 tesla. Computer simulation of EPR spectra has been developed for multielectron centers. A high frequency might be chosen in EPR studies, for example, because extremely small samples are used, magnetic-field-independent effects such as zero-field splitting become less important so resolution is improved, the contributions of multicomponent samples can be resolved, or a fast-motional process is involved. We aim to explore redox reactions in new enzymes as they are discovered. If you've got a favorite, let us know.

Selected Recent Publications:
(see also "Oldies but Goodies" on the Personal Home Page, above)

Gaffney, B. J. 1996. Lipoxygenases: structural principles. Annual Review of Biophysics and Biomolecular Structure 25: 431-459. PMID: 8800477. Full text, PDF

Bowers, C. R., V. Storhaug, C. E. Webster, J. Bharatam, A. Cottone III, R. Gianna, K. Betsey, and B.J. Gaffney. 1999. Exploring protein surfaces and cavities in lipoxygenase and other proteins by hyperpolarized xenon-129 NMR. Journal of the American Chemical Society 121: 9370-9377. PMID: 16429610. Full text, PDF

Abraham, B., M. Sono, O. Boutaud, A. Shriner, J. H. Dawson, A. R. Brash, and B. J. Gaffney. 2001. Characterization of the coral allene oxide synthase active site with magnetic circular dichroism and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy: evidence for tyrosinate-ligation to the ferric enzyme heme iron. Biochemistry 40: 2251-2259. PMID: 11329294. Full text, PDF

Gaffney, B. J., C. Su, and E. H. Oliw. 2001. Assignment of EPR transitions in a manganese-containing lipoxygenase and prediction of local structure. Applied Magnetic Resonance 21: 413-424. PMID: 16518455. Full text, PDF

Wu, F., L. J. Katsir, M. Seavy, B. J. Gaffney. 2003. Role of radical formation at Y193 in the allene oxide synthase domain of a lipoxygenase-AOS fusion protein from coral. Biochemistry 42: 6871-6880. PMID: 12779342. Full text, PDF

Agarwalla, S., R. M. Stroud, and B. J. Gaffney. 2004. Redox reactions in the iron-sulfur cluster in a ribosomal RNA methyltransferase, RumA: optical and EPR studies. Journal of Biological Chemistry 279:34123-34129. PMID: 15181002. Full text, PDF

Coffa, G., A. N. Imber, B. C. Maguire, G. Laxmikanthan, C. Schneider, B. J. Gaffney, and A. R. Brash. 2005. On the relationships of substrate orientation, hydrogen abstraction and product stereochemistry in single and double dioxygenations by soybean lipoxygenase-1 and its Ala542Gly mutant. Journal of Biological Chemistry 280: 38756-38766. PMID: 16157595. Full text, PDF

Youn, B. Y., G. E. Sellhorn, R. J. Mirchel, B. J. Gaffney, H. D. Grimes, and C. H. Kang. 2006. Crystal structures of vegetative soybean lipoxygenase VLX-B and VLX-D, and comparisons with seed isoforms, LOX-1 and LOX-3. PROTEINS: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics 65: 1008-1020. PMID: 17022084.

Wu, F. Y., and B. J. Gaffney. 2006. Dynamic behavior of fatty acid spin labels within a binding site of soybean Lipoxygenase-1. Biochemistry 45:12510-12518. PMID: 17029406.

Gaffney, B. J. 2007. Anethesia, analgesia and euphoria. Biophysical Journal 92: 1-2. PMID: 17028147.

Gaffney, B. J. 2009. High resolution EPR of mononuclear iron proteins. Pages 233-268 in Biological Magnetic Resonance, Vol 28. High Resolution EPR: Applications to Metalloenzymes and Metals in Medicine, G. Hanson and L. J. Berliner, eds. Springer Verlag. ISBN 978-0-64655-6. Click here for author preprint.

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