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Johannes Schelvis

Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Email:
schelvisj@montclair.edu
Phone:
973-655-3301
Degrees:
BS, Vrije University (Netherlands)
PhD, University of Leiden
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Specialization

Spectroscopic characterization of enzymes and substrates by using (resonance) Raman spectroscopy, absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy and time-resolved spectroscopy.
Repair of UV-damaged DNA by DNA photolyase and cryptochrome (single-strand DNA photolyase).
Substrate effects on active-site properties of and catalysis in heme-containing enzymes.

Resume/CV

Office Hours

Fall

Monday
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Tuesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Thursday
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm

Spring

Monday
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Tuesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Thursday
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Links

Research Projects

Characterization of damage in DNA that is induced by UV-light

The exposure of cells to solar light, especially UV-A through UV-C light induces damage in DNA. This damage is mainly the dimerization of adjacent pyrimidine bases (cytidine and thymidine) in DNA. In this project, we are interested in characterizing these dimers by applying various spectroscopic techniques such as NMR, UV-vis absorption, Raman, and FT-IR spectroscopy. The spectroscopic methods are complemented with computational chemistry to obtain a better understanding of the spectroscopic data. Since the irradiation of DNA and DNA bases in solution with UV-light results in the formation of several photoproducts, we also use HPLC to purify the photodimers of interest. Besides studying small strands of DNA, we also investigate the nucleobases and nucleotides in solution.

Characterization of the interaction of the DNA-repair enzyme photolyase with damaged DNA

Characterization of the DNA-repair mechanism of the DNA-repair enzyme photolyase

Characterization of the structure-function relationships in the blue-light photoreceptors photolyas, cryptochrome, and cryptochrome-DASH