900MHz NMR for Structural Biology in Chicago

描述（由申请人提供）：伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校（UIC）与芝加哥和芝加哥地区的其他主要研究机构，即西北大学、芝加哥大学、洛约拉大学和威斯康星医学院合作，寻求资金购买窄孔21Tesla （900MHz）核磁共振光谱仪和冷冻探针，用于在解决方案中，对生物医学上重要的蛋白质和蛋白质复合物的高分辨率研究，需要使用最高的可用磁场强度。该光谱仪将被安置在芝加哥伊利诺伊大学医学中心校园内一座专门建造的、新建的、独立的结构生物学仪器大楼里，该大楼位于芝加哥市中心以西。这台光谱仪和一台将于明年安装的配备低温探针的800MHz光谱仪将作为共享资源，供所有由美国国立卫生研究院资助的芝加哥地区研究生物医学重要问题的研究人员使用。这一共享资源将允许芝加哥蛋白质核磁共振工作的彻底转变，从孤立的校园调查，在相对低的领域，到一个互动的社区，最高率的研究人员有机会获得最好的设备。这种协同效应也可能对芝加哥大学之间的其他校际合作产生积极影响，而这些大学之间的合作关系以前是竞争多于合作的关系。一个直接的例子，也说明了这一资源将如何服务于当前和未来的国家科学需求，就是在生物恐怖主义相关研究方面发展一个芝加哥大学-芝加哥大学-西北大学卓越研究中心。核磁共振，包括这里描述的资源，将在本中心和相关研究中发挥关键作用。作为该设施的一部分，将建立一个资源，用于开发基于蛋白质的片段同位素标记程序，以及用于生产片段标记的DNA和RNA物种。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), in collaboration with other major Chicago and Chicago area research institutions, namely Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, Loyola University, and the Medical College of Wisconsin, seek funds for purchase of a narrow bore 21Tesla (900MHz) NMR spectrometer and cryoprobe for carrying out, in solution, high resolution studies on proteins and protein complexes of biomedical importance that demand use of the highest available magnetic field strength. The spectrometer will be housed in a purpose-built, newly-constructed, freestanding structural biology instrumentation building on the Medical Center campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago, located just west of downtown Chicago. The spectrometer, together with a cryoprobe-equipped 800MHz spectrometer that will be installed next year, will be operated as a shared resource for all NIH-funded Chicago area investigators working on biomedically important problems. This shared resource will permit a complete transformation of protein NMR work in Chicago, from isolated campus-based investigations at relatively low field, to an interactive community of top rate investigators with access to the best equipment available. Such synergy is also likely to have a positive effect on bringing about other inter-university collaborations between Chicago universities that have previously had a more competitive than collaborative relationship. An immediate example, that also illustrates the way in which this resource will serve the current and future national scientific needs, is the development of a UIC-University of Chicago-Northwestern Research Center of Excellence in bioterrorism-related research. NMR, including the resource described here, will play a key role in this Center and in related research. As part of the facility, a resource will be established for development of procedures for intein-based segmental isotopic labeling of proteins, as well as for production of segmentally labeled DNA and RNA species.