MRI: Acquisition of an X-ray Diffraction Instrument for Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Research and Education in an Undergraduate Setting

MRI：购置 X 射线衍射仪器，用于本科生跨学科合作研究和教育

• 批准号: 0723283
• 负责人: Douglas Juers
• 金额: $ 46.49万
• 依托单位: Whitman College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-08-01 至 2010-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0723283&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Acquisition; ray; Diffraction; Instrument

This award is for the acquisition of an X-ray diffraction instrument that will replace a 44-yr-old instrument. New X-ray optics have made sealed-tube X-ray systems with dramatically reduced maintenance requirements a viable option for X-ray studies of a wide variety of samples. The X-ray diffraction instrument will support research in the areas of: 1) Enzyme mechanism and inhibitor design; 2) Structure/function relationships; 3) The basic physical processes involved in cryogenic cooling of macromolecular crystals, a critical but poorly understood aspect of macromolecular crystallography; 4) The use of stabilizing osmolytes to study the structures of flexible proteins, which are difficult targets for structural biologists, yet extremely important for biological systems; 5) Oxidative induction of order-disorder transitions in polyolefins, which will improve understanding of degradation of polymeric materials; 6) Crystallization of rare earth minerals in sol-gels; and 7) Analysis of soil horizons in the wine-growing region of Walla Walla. This instrument will be used for interdisciplinary faculty and student research, research training of undergraduate students, and classroom instruction. Research teams from other undergraduate institutions in the Northwest will use also the system for structure/function studies. The instrument will allow development of teaching laboratories in X-ray diffraction, X-ray crystallography and structural biology. These teaching laboratory projects will be publicized to the educational/science community through web publication and educational presentations at professional conferences.

该奖项用于购买一台 X 射线衍射仪器，以取代一台已有 44 年历史的仪器。 新的 X 射线光学器件使密封管 X 射线系统大大降低了维护要求，成为各种样品 X 射线研究的可行选择。 X射线衍射仪将支持以下领域的研究：1）酶机制和抑制剂设计； 2）结构/功能关系； 3）大分子晶体低温冷却所涉及的基本物理过程，这是大分子晶体学的一个关键但知之甚少的方面； 4）使用稳定渗透剂来研究柔性蛋白质的结构，这对结构生物学家来说是困难的目标，但对生物系统极其重要； 5）聚烯烃中有序-无序转变的氧化诱导，这将提高对聚合物材料降解的理解； 6）稀土矿物在溶胶-凝胶中的结晶； 7) 瓦拉瓦拉葡萄酒产区土壤层分析。该仪器将用于跨学科教师和学生研究、本科生研究培训和课堂教学。来自西北地区其他本科院校的研究团队也将使用该系统进行结构/功能研究。该仪器将有助于开发 X 射线衍射、X 射线晶体学和结构生物学教学实验室。这些教学实验室项目将通过网络出版物和专业会议上的教育演示向教育/科学界公开。