MRI: MALDI Acquisition for Collaborative Species and Biomolecule Identification

蛋白质结构和表达分析已成为现代生物和生化研究中的常规方法。来自重大研究仪器(MRI)计划的这一奖项将资助一台基质辅助激光解吸/电离飞行时间质谱仪(MALDI-TOF MS)，这将是卡尔文学院目前正在进行的五个主要研究项目的核心。这些包括：鉴定与白蚁肠道生物耗氧性或耐受性有关的新蛋白质；分析原核胶原酶刺激后真核蛋白酶的表达；鉴定与钉螺对寄生虫免疫有关的蛋白质；鉴定蛋白质中具有氧化还原活性的交联型氨基酸侧链，以及鉴定生物催化多肽-底物复合体。MALDI-TOF MS还将用于几门大一和高级课程，包括一门大一水平的噬菌体基因组学课程，该课程将允许学生提出并回答有关细菌感染从环境样本中分离的噬菌体后蛋白质表达变化的真实研究问题。针对大量代表性不足的少数族裔的卡尔文学院外展和过渡项目将被鼓励使用这一工具来调查和分类从各种来源收集的微生物。这样的调查将使年轻学生在一个令人兴奋和合作的环境中接触到现实世界中的相关科学研究。上述研究的科学和教学成果将出现在同行评议的文献中，包括以研究为重点的本科生期刊，以及在国家、地区和内部会议上的海报演示和研讨会。

Analysis of protein structure and expression has become a routine method in modern biological and biochemical research. This award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program will fund a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MALDI-TOF MS) that will be central to five major research projects currently underway at Calvin College. These include: identification of novel proteins involved in oxygen-consumption or tolerance in termite gut organisms previously thought to be strict anaerobes; analysis of eukaryotic proteinase expression following stimulation by prokaryotic collagenases; profiling of proteins involved in snail immunity to parasites; identification of crosslinked, redox-active amino acid sidechains in proteins, and identification of biocatalytic peptide-substrate complexes. The MALDI-TOF MS will also be used in several freshman and upper-level courses, including a freshman-level bacteriophage genomics course that will allow students to ask and answer real research questions regarding protein expression changes upon infection of bacteria with phage isolated from environmental samples. Calvin College outreach and transitional programs that target large numbers of under-represented minorities will be encouraged to use this instrument to investigate and classify microbes collected variety of sources. Such investigations will expose young students to real-world, pertinent scientific research in an exciting and collaborative environment. The scientific and pedagogical outcomes from the research described above will be available in peer-reviewed literature, including undergraduate research-focused journals, as well as poster presentations and seminars at national, regional, and internal meetings.