When I first saw this spectrum in the laboratory, I thought – and may have actually exclaimed – ‘Wow! This spectrum is gorgeous!’ Here, I’ve re-presented it using pressed flowers and nice paper to help you share the feeling of that moment.

The molecule Raf Kinase Inhibitor Protein (RKIP) plays critical roles in cellular signaling related to cancer, and is a focus for Prof. Marsha Rosner’s lab at the University of Chicago’s Ben May Cancer Institute. This work includes taking nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of RKIP, such as the 2D 1H-15N heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) spectrum shown. The HSQC provides a fingerprint for the protein, where each crosspeak corresponds to one link in the protein’s chain. In our work, potential ligands (molecules that bind to the protein of interest) are added to the RKIP NMR sample, and we search for differences in the peaks’ positions for samples with and without ligand; if peaks corresponding to critical portions of RKIP shift position, then the ligand may be a lead for a drug – a potential cure for cancer!