MRI:Acquisition of a multifunctional imager for research, undergraduate training, and curricular applications

诺克斯学院获得Bio-Rad V3 WW ChemiDoc MP成像仪包。该成像仪将为生物化学、生物学和神经科学的研究活动和本科教育做出贡献，允许加速凝胶电泳、转移和荧光检测用于Western blotting，以及支持多种方法来可视化蛋白质和核酸凝胶。ChemiDoc MP将为本科生研究和课程应用做出重大贡献，从而加强诺克斯大学学生的研究培训。将仪器纳入生物化学、生物学和神经科学的课程作业和实验室活动中，每年将使大约140名学生受益。该工具将允许采用更有利于环境的技术，并将改进数据采集和分析。由于该仪器支持的技术的广泛应用，ChemiDoc MP成像仪将为许多实验室的研究做出贡献。对乙醇降低免疫防御机制的研究将使用成像仪研究炎症反应早期发生的信号转导事件的变化，以更好地了解急性乙醇暴露如何损害对产生疾病的病原体的防御。该仪器还将用于研究神经系统发育过程中交叉蛋白在大分子细胞运输中的作用，这对更好地理解早期发育中的关键事件具有重要意义。另一个研究项目利用分子生物学技术，通过成像仪创造出一种更坚固的基于蛋白质的水凝胶生物聚合物，这在组织工程和药物输送设计中具有重要的用途。一个实验室将可视化核酸凝胶作为其探索dictyostloid社会变形虫表达的小rna多样性的一部分，作为更好地理解这些重要的基因表达调节剂的进化史的一种方式。该成像仪还将用于通过研究女性激素雌激素在药物依赖发展中的作用来解决药物成瘾发展中的性别差异的研究。这些项目每年将有5名研究人员和大约20名本科生参与独立研究。

An award is made to Knox College to acquire a Bio-Rad V3 WW ChemiDoc MP imager package. The imager will contribute to research activities and undergraduate education in Biochemistry, Biology, and Neuroscience, permitting accelerated gel electrophoresis and transfer and fluorescence detection for Western blotting, as well as supporting multiple methods for visualization of protein and nucleic acid gels. The ChemiDoc MP will contribute significantly to undergraduate research and curricular applications, thus enhancing student research training at Knox. Incorporation of the instrument into coursework and laboratory activities in Biochemistry, Biology, and Neuroscience will benefit approximately 140 students per year. The instrument will allow for adoption of more environmentally-friendly techniques and will improve data acquisition and analysis.Because of the broad application of the techniques supported by this instrument, the ChemiDoc MP imager will contribute to research in a number of laboratories. Research into the mechanisms by which ethanol decreases the immune defense will use the imager to study changes in signal transduction events occurring early in the inflammatory response to better understand how acute ethanol exposure impairs defense against illness-producing pathogens. The instrument will also be used for research addressing the role of intersectin in cellular transport of macromolecules during the development of the nervous system, with implications for better understanding crucial events in early development. Another research program uses molecular biology techniques facilitated by the imager to create a more robust protein-based hydrogel biopolymer, which has important uses in tissue engineering and drug delivery design. One laboratory will visualize nucleic acid gels as part of its exploration of the diversity of small RNAs expressed in dictyostelid social amoebas as a way of achieving better understanding of the evolutionary history of these important regulators of gene expression. The imager will also be used in research that addresses gender differences in the development of drug addiction by studying the role of the female hormone estrogen in the development of drug dependence. These programs combined will involve five investigators and approximately 20 undergraduate students annually in independent research initiatives.