Operations and Maintenance Support: UBC Regional Structural Biology Facility

结构生物学是生命科学的一个分支，旨在提供对生物分子的三维结构的原子水平描述，包括蛋白质、DNA、RNA和糖。这种结构信息对于理解这些生物分子在活细胞中的不同功能至关重要，并为从蛋白质工程到药物开发的应用提供了一张“分子蓝图”。现代结构生物学依赖于三项基石技术：用于研究中小型生物分子的结构和运动的核磁共振光谱，用于确定广泛的蛋白质、核酸和碳水化合物的最高分辨率结构的X射线结晶学，以及用于近原子水平表征超大型大分子络合物的冷冻电子显微镜。这些互补技术中的每一项都依赖于获得先进的仪器和专家人员，以解决生命科学中最具挑战性的问题。 这项申请的目标是获得资金，以维持不列颠哥伦比亚省区域结构生物学设施的有效持续运营和维护，包括高级技术人员的工资。该设施在过去25年中建成，包括一套高场溶液和固态核磁共振光谱仪、具有高通量结晶机器人的X射线结晶学设备，以及即将安装的尖端冷冻电子显微镜。总体而言，这种仪器形成了一种独特的科学资源，在加拿大西部其他地方是找不到的。结构生物学设施设在不列颠哥伦比亚大学化学系和生命科学研究所内，被来自不列颠哥伦比亚大学(温哥华和奥卡诺根)、西蒙·弗雷泽大学、维多利亚大学和北不列颠哥伦比亚大学的许多研究人员和他们的学员以及区域研究机构的合作者广泛使用。这一仪器使这些研究团队能够取得基础性发现，其中包括阐明蛋白质介导细胞信号传递和发育的分子机制，设计在严酷条件下发挥作用的生物技术过程中的酶，以及确定具有抗癌和抗菌特性的生物活性天然产品的化学结构。在高级技术人员的指导下，亲手接触核磁共振光谱学和X射线结晶学设备，为一大批本科生和研究生以及博士后研究员提供了宝贵的结构生物学培训。不断增长的加拿大生物技术行业对拥有这些技能的人员的需求很高。

Structural biology is a branch of the Life Sciences that seeks to provide atomic-level descriptions of the three-dimensional structures of biological molecules, including proteins, DNA, RNA and sugars. This structural information is critical for understanding the diverse functions of these biomolecules in living cells, and provides a "molecular blueprint" for applications spanning protein engineering to drug development. Modern structural biology is dependent upon three cornerstone technologies: nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for investigating the structures and motions of small to medium sized biomolecues, X-ray crystallography for determining the highest resolution structures of a wide range of proteins, nucleic acids and carbohydrates, and cryo-electron microscopy for near atomic level characterization of very large macromolecular complexes. Each of these complementary technologies relies on access to sophisticated instrumentation and expert personnel in order to solve the most challenging problems of the Life Sciences. The goal of this application is to obtain funding to sustain the efficient on-going operation and maintenance of the UBC Regional Structural Biology Facility, including salaries for senior technical staff. Built over the past 25 years, this facility consists of a suite of high-field solution and solid-state NMR spectrometers, X-ray crystallography equipment with high-throughput crystallization robotics, and a soon to be installed cutting-edge cryo-electron microscope. Collectively, this instrumentation forms a unique scientific resource, available nowhere else in western Canada. Housed within the UBC Department of Chemistry and the Life Sciences Institute, the Structural Biology Facility is used extensively by many researchers and their trainees from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver and Okanogan), Simon Fraser University, the University of Victoria, and the University of Northern British Columbia, as well as by collaborators at regional research institutes. This instrumentation has enabled these research teams to make fundamental discoveries including, among many others, elucidating the molecular mechanisms by which proteins mediate cell signalling and development, designing enzymes that function under harsh conditions for biotechnological processes, and determining the chemical structures of bioactive natural products with anti-cancer and anti-bacterial properties. Hands-on access to NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography equipment, with guidance from senior technical staff, has provided valuable structural biology training to a large cohort of undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Personnel with these skills are in high demand by the ever-growing Canadian biotechnology sector.