MRI: Acquisition of a High Pressure Stopped-Flow Instrument for Studying Biological Systems under Extreme Conditions

伦斯勒理工学院获得了一个奖项，以支持购买高压止流（HPSF）分光光度计/荧光计系统。该仪器是美国同类仪器中的第一种，将被安置在RPI分析生物化学核心设施中。这将确保该仪器独特的尖端功能将被本科生、研究生和博士后访问，不仅在RPI，而且在纽约首都地区和其他地区的更广泛的社区。许多实验室将使用该仪器来解决基础生物化学、生物学和进化适应极端环境的问题。该仪器还将在一些包括本科生和研究生的实践研讨会中使用。参加这些研讨会的实验室将扩大到美国国家科学基金会支持的极端生物物理学研究协调网络（RCN-EB）。此外，该工具所支持的研究将被纳入社区外展计划，以鼓励学生进入STEM领域，并向纽约首都地区有才华的少数族裔和年轻女性伸出援手。静水压力是一个重要的环境变量，对于许多栖息在海洋深处和地下地壳的极端生物来说，它在生物适应中起着至关重要的作用。HPSF仪器将支持一组研究人员的研究活动，他们对了解高静水压力对生物功能和生物大分子功能动力学的影响的分子细节感兴趣。使用HPSF仪器实验监测酶动力学作为温度和压力的函数的能力对于理解静水压力如何调节酶的活性至关重要。这反过来又会使我们更好地理解生物体对极端压力的适应。高静水压力也会影响蛋白质折叠的能量格局。蛋白质的高能状态涉及催化、结合、聚集、变构和折叠，从而将酶的功能与其动态特性联系起来。这些研究工作的成果将通过学生和教师积极参加科学会议、专题讨论会和讲习班、通过同行评议的出版物和向公众介绍来传播。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

An award is made to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to support the purchase of high-pressure stopped flow (HPSF) spectrophotometer/fluorimeter system. The instrument is the first of its kind in the US and will be housed in the RPI Analytical Biochemistry Core Facility. This will ensure that the unique cutting-edge capabilities of the instrument will be accessible to undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows, not only at RPI but also to a broader community in the NY Capital Region and beyond. A number of laboratories will use the instrument to address questions of basic biochemistry, biology and evolutionary adaptations to extreme environments. The instrument will also be used in a number of hands-on workshops that will include undergraduate and graduate students. The participation in these workshops will be extended to the laboratories from NSF-supported Research Coordination Network on Extreme Biophysics (RCN-EB). In addition, the research that is enabled by this instrument will be incorporated in community outreach programs to encourage students into STEM fields and reaches out to talented underrepresented minorities and young women in the NY Capital Region. Hydrostatic pressure is an important environmental variable that plays an essential role in biological adaptation for many extremophilic organisms that inhabit the depth of the oceans and subsurface crusts. The HPSF instrument will support research activities of a group of investigators interested in understanding the molecular details of the effects of high hydrostatic pressure on the biological function and functional dynamics of biological macromolecules. The ability to experimentally monitor enzyme kinetics as a function of temperature and pressure using the HPSF instrument is critical for understanding of how hydrostatic pressure modulates the activity of the enzymes. This in turn will lead to a better understanding of adaptation of organisms to extreme pressures. High-hydrostatic pressure can also influence the energy landscape for protein folding. High-energy states of proteins are implicated in catalysis, binding, aggregation, allostery, and folding, thus connecting the enzymatic function with their dynamic properties. The results of these research efforts will be disseminated through active participation of students and faculty at scientific conferences, symposia and workshops, through peer-reviewed publications and public outreach presentations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.