Acquisition of an ultracentrifuge

卡尔顿大学健康科学系、神经科学系和化学系的研究人员的nserc资助的研究项目由于缺乏易于使用的超离心机而受到阻碍。至少8位国际公认的早期、中期和高级科学家及其团队的原创和高度创新的研究项目在没有现代化和可访问的超离心机的情况下受到损害。申请人和使用者的研究计划的关键方面依赖于超离心来研究各种生物问题。不幸的是，卡尔顿唯一可用的超离心机是一台20多年前的贝克曼设备。一个关键的问题是，目前的超离心机位于Nesbitt生物大楼，距离申请人和用户团队占用的建筑物约0.6公里，因此限制了它的访问和使用。在建筑物之间移动样品大大增加了样品降解的机会，或者对于许多实验方法来说是完全不可能的。此外，该离心机不允许申请人及其团队使用的现代实验方法所需的高级离心协议。使用位于健康科学大楼的超离心机执行拟议的实验将大大增加研究人员可用的实验条件的数量以及实验的可重复性。这反过来将最大限度地收集数据，降低成本，并大大加快所有共同申请者的研究。此外，强大的仿真工具和软件的可用性将允许在运行前优化协议，以确保最高效率。重要的是，这将节省时间和样本，这对于患者来源的样本尤其重要。在此申请中，我们要求为卡尔顿大学的几个研究小组购买贝克曼Optima XPN-100超离心平台提供资金。所要求的系统是一种价格合理且易于使用的超离心机，具有显著推进卡尔顿大学基础分子和细胞生物学研究的能力。该平台的另一个主要优势，特别是对于拟议的多用户操作，是其可定制的用户登录、编程和联网功能，允许远程预订、监测和控制。因此，XPN-100将填补我们大学重要的技术空白，为我们目前的分离提供最先进的离心平台，同时也大大提高了我们开发新程序的能力。这种基础设施还将使我们能够在我们的机构内部以及与本地、国内和国际的外部合作者建立新的研究伙伴关系。因此，这将大大提高我们研究项目在国内和国际层面的资金竞争力，增强我们的研究能力和HQPs的培训。

The NSERC-funded research programs of researchers from Health Sciences, Neuroscience, and Chemistry departments of Carleton University have been hindered by the absence of a readily accessible ultracentrifuge. The original and highly innovative research programs of at least 8 early, mid-career and senior internationally-recognized scientists and their teams are compromised without availability of a modern and accessible ultracentrifuge. Key aspects of the applicants' and user's research programs rely on ultracentrifugation to study diverse biological questions. Unfortunately, the only ultracentrifuge available at Carleton is a 20+ year-old Beckman unit. A critical issue is that this current ultracentrifuge is located in the Nesbitt Biology building, approximately 0.6 km away from the buildings occupied by the teams of the applicants and users, thus limiting its access and use. The moving of samples between the buildings drastically increases opportunity for sample degradation, or is outright not possible for many experimental approaches. Furthermore, this centrifuge does not allow for advanced centrifugation protocols that are required for modern experimental approaches used by the applicants and their teams. Execution of the proposed experiments with an ultracentrifuge located in the Health Sciences Building will dramatically increase the number of experimental conditions available to the researchers as well as experimental reproducibility. This in turn will maximize data collection, reduce cost, and greatly accelerate the research of all co-applicants. In addition, availability of the powerful simulation tools and software will allow optimization of protocols before running to ensure maximum efficiency. Importantly, this will save time and samples, which is particularly critical for patient-derived samples. In this application we request funds for the acquisition of a Beckman Optima XPN-100 ultracentrifugation platform for several research groups at Carleton. The requested system is an affordable and easy-to-use ultracentrifuge with the capacity to significantly advance fundamental molecular and cellular biology research at Carleton. The additional major advantage of this platform, in particular for the proposed multiuser operations, is its customizable user log-in and programming and networking capabilities allowing for remote booking, monitoring and control. The XPN-100 will thus fill an important technological gap at our University by providing state-of-the-art centrifugation platform for our current separation, while also greatly enhancing our ability to develop new procedures. This infrastructure will also allow us to foster new research partnerships within our institution and with external collaborators locally, nationally, and internationally. Consequently, this will greatly improve the funding competitiveness of our research programs at the national and international level, enhance our research capabilities and training of HQPs.