CAREER: Microanalytical Methods for Investigation of Metabolism and Transport of Substance P

该学院早期职业发展（CAREER）项目，在分析和表面化学计划的支持下，专注于分析方法的开发，以量化P物质通过血脑屏障的分配。 堪萨斯大学的伦特教授和她的学生将研究衍生P物质的方法，以便分析检测。 一种策略涉及前或柱后衍生物质P与萘-2，3-二甲醛结合毛细管电泳，使激光诱导荧光检测可以使用。 第二种方法涉及用双缩脲试剂进行柱前衍生化，然后用双电极电化学检测进行色谱分离。 这个职业项目将使学生能够学习最先进的方法，用于量化生物学上重要的分析物的皮摩尔浓度，并测试P物质穿过血脑屏障并在中枢神经系统功能中发挥作用的假设。 P物质是一种神经肽，在维持大脑功能状态方面发挥作用，浓度非常低。 其作用的性质尚未量化，因为分子上没有赋予光谱或电化学响应的官能团，可用作分析信号。 在这个职业研究项目中，Lunte教授和她的学生将开发两种不同的方法，允许在所需的浓度水平下分析P物质。 物质P将被改性，使得可以在一个过程中测量荧光信号，并且电化学改性剂将用于第二过程中，使得可以测量电分析信号。 这些修改程序将与毛细管电泳分离方法相结合，以使P物质的选择性分析。除了让学生参与这项工作的教育影响外，Lunte教授还将为所有理科学生开设一门课程，旨在提高科学学科之间和公众之间科学信息交流的效率。

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project, supported in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, focusses on the development of analytical methods to quantify the partitioning of substance P through the blood brain barrier. Professor Lunte and her students at the University of Kansas will study methods to derivatize substance P so that it can be analytically detected. One strategy involves pre- or postcolumn derivatization of substance P with naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxaldehyde combined with capillary electrophoresis so that laser induced fluorescence detection can be used. The second approach involves precolumn derivatization with the biuret reagent followed by chromatographic separation with dual electrode electrochemical detection. This CAREER project will enable students to learn state-of-the-art methods for quantifying picomolar concentrations of biologically significant analytes and to test the hypothesis that substance P crosses the blood brain barrier and plays a role in central nervous system function. Substance P is a neuropeptide that plays a role in maintaining the functional status of the brain at very low concentration levels. The nature of its role has not been quantified because there are no functional groups on the molecule that impart either spectroscopic or electrochemical responses that can be used as analytical signals. In this CAREER research project Professor Lunte and her students will develop two separate methods that permit the analysis of substance P at the concentration levels required. Substance P will be modified so that a fluorescence signal can be measured in one procedure and an electrochemical modifying agent will be used in a second procedure so that an electroanalytical signal can be measured. These modification procedures will be coupled with the separation method capillary electrophoresis in order to make the analyses selective for substance P. In addition to the educational impact of involving students in this work, Professor Lunte will implement a course for all science students designed to improve the efficacy of communicating scientific information between scientific disciplines and to the public at large.