MRI-R2: Acquisition of an automatic isothermal titration microcalorimeter

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。北达科他州州立大学和南达科他州大学的这项合作提案请求资金购买用于生物材料研究和教育的自动等温滴定微量热计(MicroCal/GE Healthcare Biosciences的AUTO-ITC200)。所提出的仪器在单个实验中确定结合参数(即化学计量比、缔合常数、焓和熵)，采用非常小的样本量(每次实验5-10g)。该仪器测定102-109M-1范围内的结合常数，通过采用竞争性结合技术可以进一步提高极限。它是全自动的，每天可以运行50个样品。目前，南加州大学和美国大学的10名教研员(25名研究生和20名本科生)正在研究多肽纳米纤维、脂类和基于聚合物的纳米颗粒与蛋白质、DNA片段、适配子和抗体的相互作用。所有这些研究项目都迫切需要对结合进行完整的热力学表征。然而，唯一可用的ITC位于NDSU的生化系，仪器已有12年以上的历史(从MicroCal Inc.购买的ITC副总裁，1997年购买)，并且注射组件与控制计算机不能正常通信。该仪器不足以满足两所大学越来越多的生物材料研究人员的需求。此外，这种仪器不是作为成本中心设置的，而且经常受到相当的限制。拟议的AUTO-ITC200仪器将确保南加州大学和南加州大学的教职研究人员和他们的学生能够接触到最先进的微量热计。这也将为两所大学的研究生和本科生提供适当的培训。拟议的仪器将被设置为一个成本中心，产生的使用费将用于维护和升级。为了有效地在北达科他州大学和美国大学之间共享仪器，将遵循基于网络基础设施的协议，使用北达科他州国家科学基金会EPSCoR支持的高速网络连接进行时间分配、数据处理和数据检索。

0959422Mallik"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."This collaborative proposal from the North Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota requests funds to purchase an automatic isothermal titration microcalorimeter (auto-ITC200 from Microcal/GE Healthcare Biosciences) for Biomaterials research and education. The proposed instrument determines binding parameters (i.e., stoichiometry, association constant, enthalpy and entropy) in a single experiment, employing a very small sample size (5-10 g per experiment). The instrument determines binding constants in the range 102 - 109 M - 1 and the limit can be further enhanced by employing competitive binding techniques. It is fully automated to run 50 samples per day. Currently, 10 faculty researchers (25 graduate and 20 undergraduate students) at NDSU and USD are studying the interactions of peptide nanofibers, lipid- and polymer-based nanoparticles with proteins, DNA fragments, aptamers and antibodies. Complete thermodynamic characterization of the binding is a critical need for all of these research projects. However, the only ITC available is located in the Biochemistry Department at NDSU and the instrument is more than 12 years old (VP ITC from MicroCal Inc., purchased in 1997) and the injection assembly is not communicating properly with the control computer. The instrument is inadequate to satisfy the needs of the growing numbers of Biomaterials researchers of the two universities. In addition, this instrument is not set-up as a cost-center and often the access is fairly restricted. The proposed auto-ITC200 instrument will ensure that the faculty researchers and their students at NDSU and USD have access to a state-of-the-art microcalorimeter. This will also impart appropriate training to the graduate and the undergraduate students at both universities. The proposed instrument will be set-up as a cost-center and the generated user fees will be used for maintenance and upgrade. To effectively share the instrument between NDSU and USD, cyber infrastructure-based protocol will be followed for time allocation, data processing and data retrieval using the North Dakota NSF EPSCoR supported, high-speed network connection.