Equipment: MRI: Track #1 Acquisition of an Orbitrap Eclipse Tribrid Mass Spectrometer

美国新罕布什尔大学（UNH）获得了一份购买Orbitrap Eclipse LC-MS系统的合同，该系统将(i)显著提高质谱（MS）能力，加快不同领域的研究项目，（ii）促进现代仪器的实践培训和基于探究的学习，（iii）建立一个区域高分辨率的MS设施。配备了更多的最新技术，拟议的Eclipse LC-MS系统将实现深入，结束性的蛋白质组学分析，具有理想的灵敏度和吞吐量。这台新仪器将服务于26个研究项目，作为来自11个系和3个学院的主要用户，将不同的研究人员聚集在一起。合作项目的高度跨学科性质将为研究科学家/博士后、研究生和本科生提供充分的实践培训机会，让他们了解尖端的MS技术。此外，新罕布什尔大学夏季硕士研讨会和为期一个学期的硕士课程将为新罕布什尔大学以及新罕布什尔州、缅因州和佛蒙特州至少14所其他学院和大学的研究生和本科生提供扩展的研究培训，为地区STEM教育和劳动力发展做出贡献。UNH的学生中55%是女性，30%是第一代学生。新罕布什尔州（NH）总人口刚刚超过130万，拥有大量的农村人口。对于学生来说，研究可以改变他们的一生，尤其是那些来自低收入人口和农村地区的学生。这些学生将有机会使用最先进的仪器进行培训，并实现他们追求高级技术学位的潜力。此外，随着UNH分子细胞技术和生物信息学专业硕士课程的不断发展，Eclipse LC-MS系统将对培养未来的STEM劳动力和支持新罕布什尔州以及新英格兰北部地区的可持续经济增长产生重大影响。所涉及的研究项目的成果还将在开发新能源和生物工程材料、阐明疾病病因和治疗靶点、保护环境和野生动物、开垦土壤和自然资源、改进农业实践以及加强粮食和营养管理方面产生直接的社会影响。该研究将支持广泛的生物、化学、生态学和生物医学工程项目在UNH和新英格兰北部。这些项目将产生重要的生物学见解，包括视觉转导的机制理解、干细胞反式分化和组织工程、微生物、植物和环境之间的相互作用、转录调控和染色质结构、神经纤毛和造血祖细胞的信号转导、表观遗传调控和行为可塑性、蛋白质折叠和蛋白质组稳态。高质量的质谱数据将阐明关键的调节因子、修饰、相互作用、结构构象、信号分子和网络，这将彻底改变研究计划，并使理解过程取得突破，否则将无法实现。所要求的仪器还将有助于开发太阳能燃料生产中的新型试剂，以及生物传感器和飞流电喷雾电离源的使能技术和平台的设计和开发。这些有影响力的项目需要MS仪器-配备当前的现代技术-作为关键的研究工具。通过联合国大学与区域生物技术和制药公司之间的积极合作，将在生产用于个人和卫生保健的特殊成分，表征抗菌天然产品以及了解宿主-微生物相互作用和对环境压力的代谢组学反应方面出现新的知识和改进的做法。总之，MS实验能力、灵敏度和通量在现有UNH仪器的基础上的显著改进将迅速扩大MS和现代仪器在UNH及其他各种研究学科的应用。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 the University of New Hampshire (UNH) to acquire an Orbitrap Eclipse LC-MS system to (i) dramatically improve mass spectrometry (MS) capacity and expedite research projects in diverse fields, (ii) facilitate hands-on training and inquiry-based learning on modern instrumentation, and (iii) establish a regional high-resolution MS facility. Equipped with more current technologies, the proposed Eclipse LC-MS system will enable in-depth, conclusive proteomics analysis with desirable sensitivity and throughput. This new instrumentation will serve 26 research programs as major users from 11 departments and 3 colleges, bringing together a diverse group of researchers. The highly interdisciplinary nature of the collaborative projects will provide ample hands-on training opportunities for research scientists/post-docs, graduate students, and undergraduate students on cutting-edge MS technologies. In addition, a UNH summer MS workshop and a semester-long MS course will provide expanded research training for graduate and undergraduate students at UNH as well as at least 14 other colleges and universities in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont, contributing to regional STEM education and workforce development. The student population at UNH is 55% female and 30% first-generation students. With a total population of just over 1.3 million, New Hampshire (NH) has a significant rural population. Research can be a life-changing experience for students, especially those from low-income demographics and rural areas. These students will have the opportunity to train with state-of-the-art instrumentation and realize their potential to pursue an advanced technical degree. Furthermore, as the UNH professional master’s programs in Molecular & Cellular Technology and Bioinformatic continue to grow, the requested Eclipse LC-MS system will make a significant impact in developing a future STEM workforce and supporting sustainable economic growth in the state of NH as well as the northern New England region. Results from involved research projects will also bring direct societal impacts in developing new energy sources and bioengineering materials, elucidating disease etiology and therapeutic targets, protecting environment and wildlife, reclaiming soil and natural resources, improving agriculture practice, and enhancing food and nutrition management.The research that will be supported encompasses a broad range of biology, chemistry, ecology, and biomedical engineering-based projects at UNH and in northern New England. Essential biological insights will be generated from these projects towards mechanistic understanding of visual transduction, stem cell trans-differentiation and tissue engineering, interactions among microbes, plants and the environment, transcription regulation and chromatin structure, signal transduction in neuronal cilia and hematopoietic progenitors, epigenetic regulation and behavioral plasticity, protein folding and proteome homeostasis. High-quality MS data will elucidate key regulators, modifications, interactions, structure conformations, and signaling molecules and networks, which will revolutionize research programs and enables breakthroughs in understanding processes that would have otherwise been inaccessible. The requested instrumentation will also aid in the development of novel reagents in solar fuel production, as well as the design and development of enabling technologies and platforms of biosensor and femto-flow electrospray ionization sources. These impactful projects require MS instrumentation - equipped with current, modern technologies - as a critical research tool. Through active collaborations between UNH and regional biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, new knowledge and improved practice will emerge in manufacturing specialty ingredients used in personal and health care, in characterizing antimicrobial natural products, and in understanding host-microbe interactions and metabolomic responses towards environmental stressors. In summary, significant improvements in MS experimental capacities, sensitivity, and throughput over current UNH instrumentation will rapidly expand the application of MS and modern instrumentation into a variety of research disciplines at UNH and beyond.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.