RUI: Acquisition of Protein Purification and Analysis Instrumentation to Enhance Biochemical Research and Education at the College of the Holy Cross

在肯尼思米尔斯博士和罗伯特贝林博士的联合指导下，圣十字学院获得了一笔赠款，以加强生物化学研究和本科教育。该补助金支持的实验项目反映了该学院生物学和化学之间界面研究的多样性。这些研究项目的核心都是需要制备高度纯化的蛋白质，并使用灵敏的仪器对制备的样品进行分析。因此，这笔赠款将用于购买现代化的蛋白质纯化设备，包括计算机驱动的快速蛋白质液相色谱（FPLC）和高效液相色谱（HPLC）系统，以及最新的超浓缩和荧光成像系统。这些设备对于学院现代生物化学研究的发展和维持至关重要。这项赠款的智力价值取决于学院四个实验室利用所获得的设备进行的研究和本科生培训。贝林博士的研究探索了通过连接到跨膜蛋白（称为syndecans）的特定蛋白质与细胞膜的相互作用。这些相互作用对于细胞的结构完整性很重要，并且在某些情况下在肿瘤抑制中起作用。米尔斯博士实验室的研究重点是蛋白质翻译后重排反应的化学机制，特别是内含肽和刺猬蛋白。这些研究旨在研究蛋白质功能的结构基础和进化以及细胞间信号传导。玛丽莫顿博士的实验室研究小鼠的电压门控钙通道和肌营养不良蛋白相关蛋白。她的研究是重要的，在发展肌肉结构的理解，以及提供有用的信息，在寻找治疗杜氏肌营养不良症。最后，Madeline Vargas博士研究了极端嗜热生物如何在代谢途径中利用铁，以及如何适应深海喷口和人类胃肠道等多种生境。获得这种仪器的更广泛影响包括在学院生物分子研究的范围和深度方面的改进。这些改进将提高圣十字大学本科生团体所接受的研究培训的质量，特别是参加学院生物化学集中的学生。即使超出了生物化学浓度，现代设备的这种收购将对学院的大量学生产生重大影响。在过去的十年中，从圣十字毕业的650名生物学和化学专业的学生中有60%以上参加了本科研究，其中许多涉及生物分子科学领域。学生研究的强大圣十字传统的持续活力和这些学生带着他们到研究生实验室和职业生涯的丰富经验将大大提高他们的能力，培训和完成成功的研究项目现代仪器。

A grant has been awarded to the College of the Holy Cross under the joint direction of Dr. Kenneth Mills and Dr. Robert Bellin to enhance both biochemical research and undergraduate education. The experimental programs supported by this grant reflect the diversity of research at the interface between biology and chemistry at the College. Each of these research programs has at its core the need for preparation of highly purified proteins and the use of sensitive instrumentation for analysis of the prepared samples. As a result, this grant will be used to acquire modern protein purification equipment in the form of computer-driven fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) systems, as well as an up-to-date ultracentrifuge and chemiluminescent imaging system. This equipment is essential for the development and sustenance of modern biochemical research at the College. The intellectual merit of this grant rests on the research and undergraduate training conducted by four laboratories at the College that will make use of the acquired equipment. Dr. Bellin's research explores the interactions that connect specific proteins to the cell membrane via linkages to transmembrane proteins called syndecans. These interactions are important for the structural integrity of the cell and in some cases play a role in tumor suppression. The research in Dr. Mills' lab focuses on the chemical mechanism of protein post-translational rearrangement reactions, specifically those of inteins and hedgehog proteins. These studies aim to examine the structural basis for and the evolution of protein function as well as cell-to-cell signaling. Dr. Mary Morton's lab investigates voltage-gated calcium channels and dystrophin-associated proteins in mice. Her research is important in developing an understanding of muscle architecture as well as providing useful information in the search for treatments to combat Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Finally, Dr. Madeline Vargas studies how hyperthermophilic organisms utilize iron in metabolic pathways and can adapt to habitats as diverse as deep-sea vents and the human gastrointestinal tract.The broader impacts of the acquisition of this instrumentation include improvements in both the scope and depth of biomolecular research at the College. These improvements will raise the caliber of research training received by the exclusively undergraduate student body at Holy Cross, especially students who participate in the College's Biochemistry Concentration. Even beyond the Biochemistry Concentration, this acquisition of modern equipment will have a major impact on a large number of students at the College. Over 60% of the 650 Biology and Chemistry majors that have graduated from Holy Cross in the past decade have participated in undergraduate research, many in areas related to biomolecular science. The continued vitality of the strong Holy Cross tradition of student research and the richness of the experience that these students take with them to their graduate labs and careers will be greatly enhanced by their ability to train and complete successful research projects on modern instrumentation.