Improvement of a Biochemistry Laboratory Course

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Science programs at Central Connecticut State University seek to provide students with high quality instruction and state of the art laboratory experiences in preparation for careers in industry and education or further postgraduate education. The B.S. degrees in Chemistry are certified by the American Chemical Society's Committee on Professional Training (ACS CPT). In response to student interest and to better prepare students for industry, we are developing a specialization in Biochemistry consistent with the ACS CPT guidelines. To achieve this goal we must (1) extend our current biochemistry lecture course from 3- to 6-credit hours; (2) improve the scope and quality of our 3-hour biochemistry laboratory program by the incorporation of modern technology and more innovative experiments; and (3) provide more research opportunities for undergraduates interested in biochemistry. The present proposal addresses our intent to improve the biochemistry laboratory program through the purchase of instrumentation for revised phased high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), high speed, low temperature centrifugation, and tissue homogenization. The instruments will be utilized in the following courses in the Chemistry Department: Biochemistry Laboratory and Basic Organic and Biological Chemistry; and in the Biology Department, in Ecological Physiology. The professors who instruct these courses will also utilize the instrumentation in their individual research programs which involve undergraduates. Dr. Jones, a biochemist in the Chemistry Department, is studying the metabolism and toxicity of polyaromatic hydrocarbons and halogenated hydrocarbons in prokaryote and eukaryote cells. She has recently established a small tissue culture laboratory for conducting metabolic studies in primary rat liver cell cultures. Dr. Kapper, a comparative physiologist in the Biology Department, is engaged in study of the physiological and biochemical mechanisms of salinity adaptation in marine and estuarine orga nisms. These studies would be enhanced by access to HPLC technology. Specifically, we propose to purchase a Waters reversed phase HPLC system with capability for uv/visible and fluorescence detection. This will be used for analyses of protein hydrolysates, amino acids and other biomolecules, and environmental metabolites generated in plant and animal tissues. The Sorval RC-26 Plus centrifuge (max. speed 26,000rpm) with and aluminum fixed-angle rotor, will be used for the subcellular fractionation of mammalian tissues including calcium-precipiated microsomes for metabolic studies, and for the gradient purification of specific cellular proteins. A tissue homogenizer will be used to generate tissue homogenates for differential centrifugation. The acquisition of these instruments would represent a major advancement in the quality and scope of training in biochemistry within the Chemistry Department, and contribute significantly to the proposed program development in this area. An HPLC system would be widely used in other as well as undergraduate research projects in the Departments of Chemistry and Biological Sciences.