MRI: Acquisition of an X-Band Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectrometer System

技术摘要：我们寻求获得一个x波段电子顺磁共振光谱仪系统，使我们能够在不同的环境中研究自由基作为自旋标签或作为电子转移机制解释中的反应中间体。其中几个拟议的项目是高度跨学科的，将产生广泛适用的结果。这些项目包括：(1)量化寡动力学作用和表征具有潜在杀生性能（减缓或抑制生物膜形成）的新型环保有机金属塑料，这将与防污船用涂料或医疗设备改进材料的开发相关；(2)研究一种新发现的参与铁在生物系统中运输的成分，这将导致对这种基本元素如何在活组织中被利用的新认识，并可能为各种铁相关疾病（如贫血或血色素沉着症）带来新的治疗方法；(3)研究与突变和衰老相关的高活性氧，这将为癌症研究和老年医学领域开辟新的前景；(4)研究工程细胞色素蛋白活性位点的结构反应关系，这将为更好地理解蛋白质如何采用生物活性所需的关键形状提供见解。非技术摘要：我们寻求获得仪器，使我们能够通过各种项目，研究不同环境下电子的磁性。其中一些项目是跨学科的，涉及无机化学、有机化学、生物化学、微生物学和/或材料科学。其他项目侧重于研究某些类型的反应是如何发生的。其中一个基础更为广泛的项目将建立某些有毒金属与由细菌产生的黏性涂层在水环境中形成的速度之间的关系。这种粘稠的涂层被称为生物膜，例如，在一种被称为生物污垢的过程中，藤壶附着在船上，以及医疗设备中使用的管道堵塞。我们将利用我们的研究结果来设计环境安全的材料和涂层，以减缓或阻止生物污染。其他具有广泛应用的项目包括：(1)研究一种新发现的参与铁在活组织中运动的分子；(2)可能参与突变和衰老过程的特殊含氧分子的研究；(3)对生物化学工程分子的研究，以更多地了解这些分子是如何工作的。我们认为研究教学是必不可少的，在我们部门授予的所有学位都要求参与研究。因此，我们的学生——其中许多是女性和少数族裔学生——将获得在工业、石油勘探、医学、法医学和其他“现实世界”应用中广泛使用的设备的实践经验。

Technical AbstractWe seek to acquire an X-band electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer system that will allow us to study free-radicals as spin labels in different environments or as reactive intermediates in the elucidation of electron-transfer mechanisms. Several of the proposed projects are highly interdisciplinary and will yield broadly-applicable results. These projects include: (1) quantification of oligodynamic action and the characterization of novel, environmentally-safe organometallic plastics with potential biocidal properties (slowing or inhibiting biofilm formation), which would be relevant to the development of antifouling marine coatings or improved materials for medical devices; (2) the study of a newly-discovered component involved in iron transport in biological systems, which will result in a new understanding of how this essential element is utilized in living tissue, and may lead to new treatment methods for various iron-related disorders such as anemia or hemochroma-tosis; (3) the study of highly-reactive oxygen species that are implicated in mutation and aging, which would open new vistas in cancer research and in the field of geriatrics; and (4) the study of structure reactivity relationships at the active site in engineered cytochrome proteins, which will provide insight to better understand how proteins adopt the critical shapes required for biological activity. Non-Technical AbstractWe seek to acquire instrumentation that will allow us, through various projects, to study magnetic properties of electrons in different environments. Several of these projects are interdisciplinary, and involve inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, micro-biology, and/or materials science. Other projects focus on the study of how some types of reactions take place. One of the more broadly-based projects will establish a correlation between certain toxic metals which have been chemically incorporated into plastics, and how rapidly a slimy coating, produced by bacteria, forms in a water environment. This slimy coating is known as a biofilm, and is involved, for example, in the attachment of barnacles to ships and the clogging of tubing used in medical devices in a process called biofouling. We will use the results of our studies to design environmentally safe materials and coatings that slow or stop biofouling. Other projects with broad applications include (1) the study of a newly-discovered molecule involved in the movement of iron in living tissue; (2) the study of specialized oxygen-containing molecules that may be involved in mutation and aging processes; and (3) the study of biochemically-engineered molecules to learn more about how such molecules work. We consider the teaching of research to be essential, and participation in research is required for all academic degrees awarded in our department. Thus, our students - many of whom are women and under-represented minority students - will receive hands-on experience with equipment that is widely used in industry, oil exploration, medicine, forensics, and other 'real-world' applications.