Typhoon Imaging System for Molecular Nutrition Research

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Funds are requested to purchase a Typhoon 9400 Imaging System from GE Healthcare Biosciences Corporation for integration into the Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences (IGPNS) shared instrumentation resource. The IGPNS at the University of Wisconsin-Madison encompasses more than 40 faculty trainers from 16 different departments (Nutritional Sciences, Biochemistry, Genetics, Physiology, Medicine, etc.). The IGPNS is recognized as one of the top nutritional sciences training programs worldwide and is a premier program in the area of molecular nutritional sciences. This program is supported, and has been for many years, by an NIH T32 (2T32-DK007665-16) training grant. To maintain and advance our leadership in this field and to continue to train the most promising young scientists, it is essential that we have access to the state-of-the-art instrumentation and facilities on which our research depends. Imaging systems like the Typhoon 9400 have become essential research tools in molecular biology regardless of the particular experimental organism or particular problem under investigation. This instrument can be used to achieve extremely sensitive and quantitative analysis of samples generated by a wide variety of molecular biology techniques including DNA/RNA analysis (EMSA, Northern blots, RNase and S1 nuclease protection assays, etc) and protein analysis (immunoblotting, 35S metabolic labeling and pulse-chase experiments, protein staining following 1D and 2D PAGE, etc). Previously, we have largely relied on other methods (e.g., film-based autoradiography) that are far inferior to imager scanning and much more costly. The Typhoon 9400 Imager will fill this great need. Seven major users are submitting this proposal on behalf of the entire IGPNS. Six of these seven have current NIH funding. Public Health Relevance: The ongoing studies of the major users are yielding important insights into molecular aspects of nutrition as they relate to human health and disease. These include issues of mineral metabolism and homeostasis, biomarkers of nutrient status, alcohol metabolism and its effects on prenatal and neonatal development, gastrointestinal physiology and function, and the regulation of lipid metabolism and its relationship to obesity and diabetes. We will also attract new users from within the IGPNS; so an accessible imager will broaden and strengthen the research programs of researchers beyond the listed applicants. All IGPNS faculty are engaged in research of great significance to human health and therefore of importance to the aims of NIH.