Gordon Tollin

Regents Professor Emeritus - Retired

Degrees and Appointments:

  • Ph.D. 1956, Iowa State University

Specialities: Bioanalytical, Bioinorganic, Biophysics, Protein and Membrane Biochemistry, Spectroscopy/Molecular Structure

Research and Publications

Research Description

The transduction of information across biological membranes is one of the key processes in living systems. In many cases, such signals are transmitted via a class of integral membrane proteins known as G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). These are ubiquitous in eukaryotes and constitute one of the primary targets for pharmaceuticals. We have developed a new spectroscopic tool, called plasmon-waveguide resonance, that allows one to monitor conformational changes in real time in a single lipid bilayer occurring as a consequence of the functional activity of membrane proteins, without the use of labels of any kind.