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Register of the Russell Doolittle Biochemistry Laboratory Records
MSS 0077
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Table of contents
Title: Russell Doolittle Biochemistry Laboratory Records,
Date (inclusive): 1971-1985
Collection number: MSS 0077
Extent: 33.00 linear feet (29 records cartons, 3 archives boxes
and 1 art bin item)
Repository:
Mandeville Special Collections Library, Geisel Library, UC, San Diego
La Jolla, CA 92093-0175
Shelf Location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Russell Doolittle Biochemistry Laboratory Records, MSS 0077. Mandeville Special
Collections Library, UCSD.
The records (1971-1985) of Dr. Russell F. Doolittle's biochemistry laboratory at the
University of California, San Diego include notebooks related to the first determination
of the complete sequence of amino acids in the human fibrinogen molecule, paper files for
the amino acid sequences contained in the protein sequence data bank called NEWAT and an
amino acid sequencing machine.
The materials are arranged in three series: 1) NEWAT, 2) LABORATORY NOTEBOOKS and 3)
AMINO ACID SEQUENCER.
Dr. Russell F. Doolittle, professor of chemistry at the University of California, San
Diego, heads a campus science laboratory that conducts research in the evolutionary and
structural aspects of proteins. In 1979, Doolittle's laboratory successfully analyzed the
structure of the amino acid sequence for the human fibrinogen molecule.
During that study, ten to twenty postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate researchers
worked to pull apart and analyze the amino acid sequences in the alpha, beta and gamma
chains of fibrinogen. Doolittle adapted a peptide synthesizing machine to break apart
peptides and employed an amino acid analyzer to identify the sequences.
The peptide synthesizer, which was the second peptide synthesizer ever constructed, was
modeled on the prototype designed by Bruce Merrifield, then of Rockefeller University.
Merrifield was later awarded the Nobel Prize for the design of the machine. The UCSD
machine was constructed in 1964 at the instigation of Martin Kamen, a member of the
Chemistry faculty. Professor Kamen had seen Merrifield's machine and, on his return to
UCSD, asked Arthur Robinson, a graduate student in the Chemistry Department, to oversee
construction of the machine. Robinson journeyed back to New York to examine Merrifield's
machine more closely and then, after returning to UCSD, began constructing the UCSD
machine.
After a period of time, the machine was converted into a peptide sequencer. Instead of
building up peptides one amino acid at a time, it would take them apart one amino acid at
a time. In 1979, the machine was used to make the first determination of the complete
amino acid sequence for the human fibrinogen molecule, which is composed of 2,934 amino
acids.
Doolittle also constructed a protein sequence data bank called NEWAT. Sequences
identified in the published literature were entered into an electronic database and new
sequences were searched against known sequences. In 1983, Doolittle used the data bank to
link separate research efforts at the Center for Blood Research in Boston and the
National Cancer Institute in Washington, D. C. He related a known cancer gene to a gene
with a known function in human cells.
The Russell Doolittle Biochemistry Laboratory Records document the activities of a UCSD
science laboratory engaged in research on the structure of the human fibrinogen molecule.
The materials are arranged in three series: 1) NEWAT, 2) LABORATORY NOTEBOOKS and 3)
AMINO ACID SEQUENCER.
SERIES 1: NEWAT
The NEWAT series contains journal articles, printouts and summary data reports for
individual amino acid sequences that were entered into the electronic data bank. The
series begins with a list that relates the folder title acronym to the name and the
journal citation for each amino acid sequence. The materials are arranged alphabetically
by acronym.
SERIES 2: LABORATORY NOTEBOOKS
The LABORATORY NOTEBOOKS series contains notebooks by individual postdoctoral, graduate
and undergraduate researchers who worked on the project. Also included are notebooks that
contain amino acid analysis charts and high performance liquid chromotography charts. The
notebooks are arranged by name of researcher, subproject and type of chart as follows:
2A) Watt, Ken; 2B) Bouma, H.; 2C) Takagi, T.; 2D) Miscellaneous Researchers; 2E) Electric
Birefringence; 2F) Peptide Synthesis; 2G) Analysis Charts; and 2H) High Performance
Liquid Chromotography Charts.
SERIES 3: AMINO ACID SEQUENCER
This is the machine adapted by laboratory staff to pull apart amino acids.