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

技术摘要我们寻求获得一种X波段电子顺磁共振光谱仪系统，该系统将使我们能够研究自由基作为不同环境中的自旋标记或作为阐明电子转移机制的活性中间体。拟议的几个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)低动态作用的量化和具有潜在生物杀伤性(减缓或抑制生物膜形成)的新型、环境安全的有机金属塑料的表征，这将与开发防污海洋涂料或改进医疗设备材料相关；(2)研究新发现的与生物系统中的铁运输有关的成分，这将导致对这种基本元素如何在活组织中被利用的新的理解，并可能导致各种与铁有关的疾病的新的治疗方法，如贫血或血色素沉着；(3)研究与突变和衰老有关的高活性氧物种，这将为癌症研究和老年病领域开辟新的前景；(4)研究工程细胞色素蛋白活性部位的结构活性关系，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洞察力。非技术摘要我们寻求获得仪器，使我们能够通过各种项目，研究电子在不同环境中的磁性。其中几个项目是跨学科的，涉及无机化学、有机化学、生物化学、微生物学和/或材料科学。其他项目的重点是研究某些类型的反应是如何发生的。其中一个基础更广泛的项目将建立某些有毒金属之间的关联，这些有毒金属已被化学结合到塑料中，以及细菌在水环境中形成粘性涂层的速度有多快。这种粘稠的涂层被称为生物膜，例如，在一种称为生物污垢的过程中，它涉及到将藤壶附着到船舶上，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对环境无害的材料和涂层，以减缓或阻止生物污垢。其他具有广泛应用的项目包括(1)研究一种新发现的参与活组织中铁运动的分子；(2)研究可能参与突变和衰老过程的特殊含氧分子；以及(3)研究生物化学工程分子，以更多地了解这些分子的工作原理。我们认为研究的教学是必不可少的，我们系所有授予的学位都必须参与研究。因此，我们的学生--其中许多是女性和代表不足的少数族裔学生--将获得在工业、石油勘探、医药、法医和其他“真实世界”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.