NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) for FY 2013 in China

这项行动资助了匹兹堡大学生物工程系的Nicholas Nuar，于2013年夏天在中国北京的北京大学开展一个生物学研究项目。项目名称为“利用膜蛋白受体开发生物传感器”。主持人是谢灿博士。膜受体是嵌入细胞膜的蛋白质，介导细胞与环境之间的通讯。因此，在仿生方法中使用膜受体进行生物传感器的技术应用开发是直观的。该原理是通用的，因此这种技术平台可以扩展到可能能够检测和分析数千种生物相关化合物。该项目将该系统扩展到中国谢灿教授研究的植物膜受体乙烯受体。乙烯（C2H4）是一种重要的植物生长物质，在工业上用于诱导储存的植物产品成熟。其受体与胰岛素受体不同源，其跨膜结构完全不同，激酶活性是组氨酸或丝氨酸/苏氨酸特异性的。本研究研究了植物乙烯受体NTHK1。在已知的植物激素受体中，乙烯受体是一种独特的跨膜受体，就像激素受体一样，如动物的EGFR。该活动研究了与谢博士合作继续研究蛋白质所需的表达、纯化和分析设置。该研究员博士项目的最终目标是利用对这些高度调谐的受体激酶系统的理解，为新型生物传感能力建立一个可扩展的平台。这个项目将对速度、准确性和易分析化学物质的数量产生影响。EAPSI奖学金的广泛影响包括为研究员提供美国以外的第一手研究经验；介绍该地区的科学、科学政策和科学基础设施；以及对社会、文化和语言的了解。这些活动符合美国国家科学基金会的目标，即在其科学家、工程师和教育工作者的职业生涯早期培养国际合作，从而确保美国科学劳动力具有全球意识。此外，该研究员将加强Klein-Seetharaman实验室和Xie实验室之间的合作。高影响、低成本的实验室仪器解决方案是研究项目的最终下游目标。

This action funds Nicholas Nuar of The University of Pittsburgh Department of Bioengineering to conduct a research project in Biology during the summer of 2013 at Peking University in Beijing, China. The project title is "Biosensor Development Using Membrane Protein Receptors." The host scientist is Dr. Can Xie.Membrane receptors are proteins embedded in the cellular membrane that mediate the communication between the cell and its environment. It is therefore intuitive to use membrane receptors for biosensor development for technological applications in a biomimetic approach. The principle is general so that such a technology platform can be extended to potentially be able to detect and assay thousands of biologically relevant compounds. This project extends the system to a plant membrane receptor, the ethylene receptor, studied by Prof. Can Xie in China. Ethylene (C2H4) is an important plant growth substance that is used industrially to induce ripening in stored plant products. Its receptor is not homologous to the insulin receptor and its transmembrane structure is quite different, and kinase activity is either histidine or serine/threonine specific. This study investigates a plant ethylene receptor, NTHK1. Unique among identified plant hormone receptors, the ethylene receptors are transmembrane receptors just like hormone receptors, such as EGFR in animals. This activity studies the expression, purification, and assay setup necessary to continue investigating the protein in collaboration with Dr. Xie. The ultimate goal of the Fellow's PhD project is to harness understanding of these highly tuned receptor kinase systems to make an extensible platform for novel biosensing capabilities. This project will have an impact on the speed, accuracy, and number of readily analyzable chemical species. Broader impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce. Furthermore, the Fellow will strengthen a collaboration between the Klein-Seetharaman lab and the Xie laboratories. High impact, low cost solutions to laboratory instrumentation are ultimate downstream aims from the program of research.