MRI-R2: Acquisition of Instruments for Characterizing Soft Interfaces on the Nanoscale and Single-Molecule Levels

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program Professor Daniel Burden and colleagues Brian Hunt, Lisa Keranen-Burden, Peter Walhout and Roger Kennet all from Wheaton College, in collaboration with Dr. John Kasianowicz of the National Institute of Standards and Technology will acquire a suite of instruments (an atomic force microscope, an inverted optical microscope, a Langmuir trough, a patch clamp, and a microfluidic shear flow analyzer) to study soft interfaces at the nanoscale and single-molecule level. The instrumentation will be used to support research activities and education programs in (1) topographical imaging of polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) thin films; (2) characterizing diffusion of lipid bilayer membranes on PEM films; (3) probing of ion channels in bilayer membranes; (4) studying the distribution, diffusion and aggregation of toxins in cell membranes; and (5) imaging the response of cell surfaces to shear stress.Soft interfaces are ubiquitous in nature, especially in biological systems. The microscopy and spectroscopy tools that Wheaton College will acquire with support from this award will allow these young scientists and their students to investigate a number of interesting problems, lying at the interface of physics, chemistry and biology. Results from this work may lead in years to come to a better understanding of how cells interact with their environment. The young researchers working with the PIs will receive excellent training in the use of state-of-the-art research equipment.