I did my first degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Al Arab Medical University-Benghazi-Libya I particularly enjoyed Chemistry and biology modules on my course and I decided to pursue my further career by doing the AS:MIT MSc programme at the University of Warwick. The first half of the year was taught courses and I was particularly excited by the qualitative and quantitative techniques, mass spectrometry, and the NMR modules. I've chosen to do my research project in the biochemistry field using various techniques I studied during the course.

Title of my Project: Probing the Structure and Reactivity of Metallothioneins using FTICR-MS 

Abstract of my Project:

The protein I am working on is called SmtA, a bacterial metallothionein i.e. a metalloprotein produced by cyanobacteria of 55aa length. The biological role of this protein is heavy metal detoxification and trafficking as the bacteria produce it as a response to heavy metal stress such as Zn, Cd and Cu. It also has a defence role against oxidative stress. One molecule of this protein can bind to four divalent ions forming a zinc finger in a zinc cluster.

FTICR is used to probe the reactivity of zinc and cadmium binding SmtA using tandem MS/MS, CAD and ECD fragmentation modes. Bruker software was used for data analysis.