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

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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.