Operations and Maintenance Support for a Regional Protein Characterization Facility

区域蛋白质表征设施的运营和维护支持

• 批准号: RTI-2017-00513
• 负责人: Junop, Murray
• 金额: $ 10.53万
• 依托单位: University of Western Ontario
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=616695
• 关键词: Operations; Maintenance; Support; Regional; Protein

Proteins are the macromolecules of life. These complex molecules enable our hearts to beat, transfer oxygen that we breathe throughout our bodies, digest the food we eat and allow us to see. These essential molecules are also the central causes for debilitating illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, cystic fibrosis and many types of cancer where dysfunction of one particular protein or erroneous communication with other proteins or DNA can cause irreversible damage. The key to understanding the proper and unhealthy function of many proteins is through the detailed examination of their three-dimensional shapes, the strengths and analysis of interactions between proteins and the impact that small changes in both of these characteristics can have on the proper function of these macromolecules. Our project entitled “Operations and Maintenance Support for a Regional Protein Characterization Facility” requests funding to support and sustain state-of-the-art instrumentation necessary for determining fundamental aspects of how proteins function and govern biological systems. This multi-user facility includes instrumentation used to determine three-dimensional shapes of proteins and their complexes in both crystalline and solid-state forms, the strengths of interactions between molecules, the size and shape of protein complexes and the stabilities of proteins and their diseased-state relatives. The facility is open to all researchers, especially those in Southwestern Ontario where it has been used by >300 different research groups. The facility has formed an integral part in the training of >500 MSc and PhD students who have gone on to positions in academia, biotechnology and chemical industries, medicine and other health care industries. An integral constituent of the facility is the availability of experts who manage the instrument use and provide highly skilled assistance for the operation and optimal performance of the instruments in order to empower a vast array of research programs in academic, government and industrial sectors. The facility provides one-stop shopping access to state-of-the-art instrument capabilities and training that would not otherwise be available to prominent research programs at the local, regional and national level. As such, ensuring reliable access to this facility represents a logical investment of resource funding that will help sustain the research programs of hundreds of researchers and provide leads to important scientific discoveries in all aspects of biology, biotechnology and related interdisciplinary research.

蛋白质是生命的大分子。这些复杂的分子使我们的心脏能够跳动，将我们呼吸的氧气输送到我们的身体，消化我们吃的食物，并让我们看到。这些必需的分子也是使人衰弱的疾病的主要原因，例如阿尔茨海默氏病、帕金森氏病、囊性纤维化和许多类型的癌症，其中一种特定蛋白质的功能障碍或与其他蛋白质或DNA的错误通信可能导致不可逆的损伤。了解许多蛋白质的正常和不正常功能的关键是通过详细检查它们的三维形状，蛋白质之间相互作用的强度和分析，以及这些特征的微小变化对这些大分子的正常功能的影响。 我们的项目题为“区域蛋白质表征设施的运营和维护支持”，要求提供资金，以支持和维持确定蛋白质功能和管理生物系统的基本方面所需的最先进的仪器。这个多用户设施包括用于确定蛋白质及其复合物的晶体和固态形式的三维形状，分子之间相互作用的强度，蛋白质复合物的大小和形状以及蛋白质及其疾病状态亲属的稳定性的仪器。该设施对所有研究人员开放，特别是安大略西南部的研究人员，那里有超过300个不同的研究小组使用该设施。该设施已成为超过500名硕士和博士生的培训不可或缺的一部分，这些学生已经进入学术界，生物技术和化学工业，医药和其他医疗保健行业。该设施的一个组成部分是管理仪器使用的专家，并为仪器的操作和最佳性能提供高技能的帮助，以便为学术，政府和工业部门的大量研究项目提供支持。该设施提供一站式购物访问国家的最先进的仪器能力和培训，否则将无法在地方，区域和国家一级的突出研究计划。因此，确保可靠地利用这一设施是一项合理的资源投资，将有助于维持数百名研究人员的研究计划，并为生物学、生物技术和相关跨学科研究的各个方面的重要科学发现提供线索。