Isothermal titration calorimeter

这笔资金将用于购买等温滴定量热仪（ITC）。ITC是一种测量两种物质混合时吸收或释放的热量的仪器。由于几乎所有的过程都伴随着热量的变化，这种方法的用途非常广泛。在麦克马斯特大学，有生物化学家，化学生物学家，生物制药学家和化学工程师计划使用这种方法。ITC仪器的一个组件放置在电机驱动的注射器中，另一个组件放置在量热计的单元中并保持在非常恒定的温度下。小的固定体积从注射器以预定的速率输送到量热计单元。这导致热量被吸收或释放。可以确定在热流没有进一步变化之前可以输送多少次材料（除了由稀释热引起的小影响）。从一系列的注射，人们可以计算出反应中的热变化以及两种物质彼此的亲和力。该过程可以在一系列温度下进行，以了解反应如何随温度变化。该方法将被应用到一个广泛的问题，包括小分子的绑定到大的生物聚合物和理解膜界面的双折射性能。这些结果将用于解释其他方法观察到的现象的基础。应用程序将发展为了解如何优化与药物靶点的相互作用，以及如何保护药物载体和生物材料吸收其他物质。本申请共有10位主要研究者。ITC的应用将促进每个参与者的研究。它将允许获得准确、定量的数据。进步将发生在一些领域，包括基础生物学，生物医学工程和化学。它将允许具有高技术技能的个人的培训，以促进加拿大科学，无论是在acedemia以及行业。

The funds will be used to purchase an isothermal titration calorimeter (ITC). An ITC is an instrument that measures the heat absorbed or released as a consequence of mixing two substances. Since virtually all processes are accompanied by a change in heat, the useful of this method is extremely broad. At McMaster University there are biochemists, chemical biologists, biophysicists and chemical engineers planning to use this method. An ITC instrument has one component placed in a motor-driven syringe and the other component is placed in the cell of the calorimeter and maintained at a very constant temperature. Small fixed volumes from the syringe are delivered at a predetermined rate to the calorimeter cell. This results in heat being absorbed or released. It can be determined how many times material can be delivered before there is no further change in heat flow (except for a small effect resulting from the heat of dilution). From the series of injections one can calculate both the heat change in the reaction as well as the affinity of the two substances for each other. The process can be performed at a range of temperatures to understand how the reaction varies with temperature. The method will be applied to a broad range of problems including the binding of small molecules to large biopolymers and to understanding the absorbitive properties of membrane interfaces. The results will be used to explain the basis of phenomena observed by other methods. Applications will develop for understanding how to optimize interactions with drug targets and how to protect drug carriers and biomaterials from absorbing other substances. There are a total of 10 principle invesitgators on this application. Application of ITC will advance the research of each participant. It will allow accurate, quantitative date to be obtained. Advances will occur in a number of areas including basic biology, biomedical engineering and chemistry. It will allow the training of individuals with high technical skill to contribute to Canadian science, both in acedemia as well as industry.