Investigating versatile biomolecular interactions using microscale thermophoresis

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This infrastructure grant joins together a research team composed of 7 NSERC-funded faculties at the INRS Institut Armand-Frappier (INRS-IAF) using biophysical tools such as NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography and isothermal titration calorimetry to characterize biomolecular interactions between small molecules (including ions, sugars, ligands, fragments…), proteins, and nucleic acids. Accordingly, this application aims to finance a significant and very urgent upgrade to consolidate our infrastructure with a modern and sensitive instrument for the quantitative characterization of biomolecular interactions. In particular, the applicant team has identified the Monolith NT.115 pico instrument that meet all our infrastructure needs for a versatile and multi-purposed biomolecular interaction equipment. The key improvements considered over our existing infrastructure (isothermal titration calorimeter - ITC) consist in the acquisition of a complementary instrument allowing a minimal consumption of sample, a wider detection range down to picomolar affinities, compatibility with crude sample analysis, and a broad sample versatility toward the diverse biomolecules investigated by the application team, including ions, small molecules, polysaccharides, nucleic acids, membrane proteins, macromolecular complexes, and lipid vesicles. The requested Monolith NT.115 pico instrument would be the first of its kind in Canada, providing the applicant team and highly qualified personnel (HQP) with the most up-to-date infrastructure for the study of biomolecular interactions. The instrument will be a very important asset to 7 NSERC research program to continue developing new approaches, facilitate further innovation, and increase productivity of ~62 HQP in biological sciences. The requested infrastructure will enhance our training objectives to deliver proficient hands-on training opportunities to HQP, endorsing them with cutting-edge technology, and bolstering emergence of innovative leaders and productive workforce in academic and private sectors in Canada. In addition, this application will also provide considerable inputs toward two NSERC-CREATE training program initiatives awarded in 2018, for which we are a teaching and training site in protein engineering, directed evolution, and biomolecular interactions.