Acquisition of Instrumentation for Macromolecular Crystallography at the Dupont-Northwestern-Dow Collaborative Access Team Beamlines

该合同支持购买用于在高级光子源的杜邦-西北-陶氏协作访问团队(DND-CAT)光束线上收集X射线数据的CCD探测器。该探测器将由西北大学的结晶学家和独立研究人员使用，以确定蛋白质和核酸的高分辨率X射线结构。了解生物大分子的三维结构对于全面理解化学和生物过程是必不可少的。正在解决的研究问题涵盖了广泛的基本问题，包括核糖核酸的结构、参与DNA修饰和复制的蛋白质、铜运输的生物学、免疫识别和病毒感染的机制、蛋白质的跨膜运输以及细胞信号转导机制。所要求的仪器将用于在DND-CAT配备一个新的实验站(5-BMB站)。该站是为满足西北大学结晶学家不断扩大的科学需求而设计的，只需要本提案中描述的设备即可运行。所要求的探测器是3K x 3K Mar CCD探测器，其有效表面积将大于当前探测器大小的两倍。为了从大单胞尺寸的晶体中收集高分辨率数据，需要更大的尺寸。由于结构生物学家正在追求越来越雄心勃勃的计划，如蛋白质-蛋白质复合体的结构，大的单位细胞尺寸正在变得普遍。为了获得高分辨率的数据，这种探测器是绝对必要的。此外，该合同还将支持购买用于低温数据收集的低温冷却系统、用于存放探测器的工作台、用于数据处理和存储的计算机以及用于多波长反常色散(MAD)相移实验的荧光探测器。CCD探测器与这些设备相结合，将使5-BMB站成为最先进的大分子结晶学设施。3K x 3K CCD探测器将提供独特的数据收集资源，使西北结构生物学家和外部用户都能够处理以前不可行的项目。此外，它还将加强西北大学的生物物理学培训计划。大约25名研究生和博士后研究员将定期使用这些设备。纳入外部用户将大大增加潜在受训人员的数量。新的设施还将允许更多的本科生接触结构生物学，并参与现代科学前沿的研究项目。最后，仪器将有助于努力招收新的研究生和少数民族学生，从而加强所有西北大学的研究项目。

This award supports the purchase of a CCD detector for X-ray data collection at the Dupont-Northwestern-Dow Collaborative Access Team (DND-CAT) beamlines at the Advanced Photon Source. The detector will be used by crystallographers at Northwestern and by independent investigators to determine the high resolution X-ray structures of proteins and nucleic acids. Knowledge of the three dimensional structure of biological macromolecules is essential to a comprehensive understanding of chemical and biological processes. The research problems being addressed cover a wide range of fundamental problems, including the structure of ribonucleic acids, proteins involved in DNA modification and replication, the biology of copper trafficking, mechanisms of the immune recognition and virus infection, the transport of proteins across membranes, and mechanisms of cellular signal transduction. The requested instrumentation will be used to outfit a new experimental station (the 5-BMB station) at DND-CAT. This station is designed to meet the expanding scientific needs of the Northwestern crystallographers, and only requires the equipment described in this proposal to become operational. The requested detector, a 3K x 3K Mar CCD detector, will have an active surface area greater than twice the size of the current detectors. The larger size is required to collect high resolution data from crystals with large unit cell dimensions. Since the structural biologists are pursuing more and more ambitious projects, such as the structures of protein-protein complexes, large unit cell dimensions are becoming common. This detector will be absolutely necessary to obtain high resolution data. In addition, the award will support the purchase of a cryo cooling system for low temperature data collection, a table to house the detector, a computer for data processing and storage, and a fluorescence detector for multiwavelength anomalous dispersion (MAD) phasing experiments. The CCD detector, combined with these items, will render the 5-BMB station a state-of-the-art macromolecular crystallography facility. The 3K x 3K CCD detector will provide a unique data collection resource and enable both the Northwestern structural biologists and outside users to tackle previously unfeasible projects. In addition, it will strengthen the Northwestern training program in biophysics. Approximately 25 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows will use the equipment regularly. The inclusion of outside users will increase the number of potential trainees significantly. The new facilities will also allow more undergraduate students to be introduced to structural biology and participate in research projects at the forefront of modern science. Finally, the instrumentation will help efforts to recruit new graduate students and minority students, thus strengthening all the Northwestern research programs.