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

该学院早期职业发展(CALEAR)项目由分析和表面化学计划支持，专注于开发分析方法，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，以便对其进行分析检测。一种方法是用2，3-二甲醛与毛细管电泳联用对P物质进行柱前或柱后衍生化，从而实现激光诱导荧光检测。第二种方法是用缩二脲试剂柱前衍生化，然后用双电极电化学检测进行层析分离。这个职业项目将使学生能够学习最先进的方法来量化具有生物学意义的分析物的皮摩尔浓度，并检验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，在非常低的浓度水平下起到维持大脑功能状态的作用。其作用的性质还没有被量化，因为分子上没有官能团可以提供可用作分析信号的光谱或电化学反应。在这个职业研究项目中，伦特教授和她的学生将开发两种不同的方法，使P物质的分析达到所需的浓度水平。将对P物质进行修饰，以便可以在一个程序中测量荧光信号，并在第二个程序中使用电化学修饰剂，以便可以测量电分析信号。这些修改程序将与分离方法毛细管电泳联用，以使分析对P物质具有选择性。除了让学生参与这项工作的教育影响外，伦特教授还将为所有理科学生实施一门课程，旨在提高科学学科之间和公众之间交流科学信息的效率。

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.