Purchase of a Differential Scanning Calorimeter for Studies of DNA Polymerases

这份来自化学研究仪器和设施（CRIF）项目的合同将使路易斯安那州立大学化学系和A&amp；M学院能够购买差示扫描量热计。该设备将主要由初级教员Vincent J. LiCata使用，他的研究重点是DNA聚合酶的研究。他将对四种细菌DNA聚合酶展开的热力学进行平行定量测量。此外，LiCata博士将测量pH值、水活度和这些聚合酶展开时的离子依赖性。这个项目将提供这些聚合酶的稳定性的第一个量热测定。LiCata博士将研究的一种聚合酶几乎完全没有生物物理特征，但它是聚合酶链反应（PCR）中最常用的聚合酶。PCR使科学家能够从极少量的材料中大量生产DNA分子；因此，它对许多科学家都很有用，从法医科学家到从事人类基因组计划的科学家。

This award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Program will enable the Department of Chemistry at Louisiana State University and A&M College to purchase a differential scanning calorimeter. This equipment will be used primarily by junior faculty member Vincent J. LiCata, whose research focuses on studies of DNA polymerases. He will carry out parallel quantitative measurements of the thermodynamics of unfolding of four DNA polymerases from bacteria. In addition, Dr. LiCata will measure the pH, water activity, and ionic dependencies of unfolding of these polymerases. This project will provide the first calorimetric determinations of the stability of any of these polymerases. One of the polymerases Dr. LiCata will study remains almost completely uncharacterized biophysically, yet it is the most commonly used polymerase in polymerase chain reaction, or PCR. PCR enables scientists to mass-produce DNA molecules from incredibly small amounts of material; thus it is useful to a wide range of scientists, from forensic scientists to those working on the human genome project.