Proposal for a Table Top Ultracentrifuge Facility

需要资金从Beckman Instruments Inc.购买TLX-120型台式超速离心机和转子。该仪器将为解剖和细胞生物学系提供新的研究能力，并将成为培训未来当代分子、细胞和发育生物学独立研究人员的重要教育资源。具体地说，它将使各种研究成为可能，这些研究必须在非常少量的生物材料(细胞、组成的大分子和大分子组件)上进行，条件是最大限度地减少准备时间，并将温度保持在远低于环境的水平。主要使用者的应用实例包括：a)蛋白质磷酸化作为鞭毛运动中的细胞内信号：b)无细胞分析中分泌颗粒的功能；c)细胞外基质成分与纯化和重组的整合素的相互作用；d)激动素/动力蛋白与微管和膜结合细胞器的相互作用；和e)从胚胎组织中分离的阶段特异性RNA。已确定的主要用户和次要用户不能使用类似的仪器。

Funds are requested for the purchase of a Model TLX-120 Table-Top Ultracentrifuge and Rotors from Beckman Instruments Inc. This instrument will provide new investigative capacity in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and will be an important educational resource in the training of future independent investigators in contemporary molecular, cell and developmental biology. Specifically, it will make possible a variety of studies that must be conducted on very small amounts of biological materials (cells, constituent macromolecules and macromolecular assemblies) under conditions that minimize preparation time and maintain temperatures well below the ambient. Example applications by the major users include analyses of: a) protein phosphorylation as an intracellular signal in flagellar motility: b) secretion granule function in cell-free assays; c) interaction of extracellular matrix components with purified and reconstituted integrins; d) kinesin/dynein interactions with microtubules and membrane- bounded organelles; and e) stage-specific RNAs isolated from embryonic tissues. Comparable instrumentation is not available for routine use by the identified major an minor users.