Acquisition of Liquid Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry to Foster Research-Intensive Learning at the University of West Georgia

在Satyanarayana Swamy-Mruthinti博士的指导下，西乔治亚大学（UWG）获得了一笔赠款，用于购买液相色谱法和串联质谱法（LC-MS/MS），以在这所以本科生为主的大学营造一个研究密集型的学习环境。这项提议的核心是生物系和化学系正在进行的研究项目。它们是(i)蛋白质稳定性、折叠和分子伴侣作用的研究；（ii）硝化多环芳烃的分离与表征；（iii）真菌膜甾醇的分离、鉴定和表征；（iv）脊椎动物门间多胺的分离和鉴定以及尼古丁诱导的胃肠道细胞磷酸化位点的鉴定；(v)壳聚糖低聚物的分离和表征，以研究角膜气孔肿胀。在所有这些项目中，将使用液相色谱法分离不同的复杂分子，并使用串联质谱法对其进行表征。串联质谱法正在成为许多科学学科的普遍工具，特别是在生物学和化学领域。该仪器的获得将增强UWG的研究和教学能力。作为一所综合性区域大学，UWG的学生群体由64%的女性和25%的少数民族组成。UWG强烈强调教师指导的本科生研究。UWG的生物系和化学系相当重视将最新的研究进展纳入教学，并为学生提供新的教育机会。拟议的仪器将允许在生物学和化学本科生和生物学研究生的几个实验课程中引入LC-MS实验。此外，学生将有充分的机会参与尖端研究，这将使仪器成为可能。购买这些仪器将有助于在不久的将来在UWG建立一个研究核心设施。这些技术的可用性将显著提高参与该项目的所有研究人员的生产力。此外，这些仪器将成为该地区机构间研究合作的催化剂，并将吸引新的教职员工和学生。获得这种仪器也将有助于在学术界和私营企业之间建立成功的联盟。

A grant has been awarded to the University of West Georgia (UWG) under the direction of Dr. Satyanarayana Swamy-Mruthinti for the acquisition of liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to foster a research-intensive learning environment at this predominantly undergraduate institution. At the heart of this proposal are the ongoing research projects in the departments of Biology and Chemistry. They are (i) study of protein stability, folding and the role of molecular chaperones; (ii) separation and characterization of nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; (iii) separation, identification and characterization of micorrhyzal fungal membrane sterols (iv) separation and identification of polyamines across vertebrate phyla and identification of sites of phosphorylation in the gastrointestinal cells induced by nicotine, and (v) separation and characterization of oligomers of chitosan to study corneal stomal swelling. In all these projects, liquid chromatography is will be used to separate different complex molecules, and tandem mass spectrometry used to characterize them. Tandem mass spectrometry is becoming a ubiquitous tool across many disciplines of science, particularly in biology and chemistry. Acquisition of this instrumentation will enhance the research and teaching capabilities of UWG. Being a comprehensive regional university, the student body of UWG is comprised of 64% women and 25% minorities. UWG strongly emphasizes faculty-directed undergraduate student research. There is considerable emphasis in the departments of Biology and Chemistry at UWG to incorporate recent advances in research into teaching and provide novel educational opportunities for the students. The proposed instrumentation will allow the introduction of LC-MS experiments in several laboratory courses for undergraduate students in Biology and Chemistry and graduate students in Biology. Furthermore, students will have ample opportunities to participate in cutting-edge research that would be made possible by this instrumentation. Acquisition of this instrumentation will facilitate the establishment of a research core-facility at UWG in near future. The availability of these techniques will significantly increase the productivity of all investigators involved in this project. Furthermore, the instrumentation will serve as a catalyst for inter-institutional research collaborations in the region, and will be an attraction for recruiting new faculty members and students. Acquisition of this instrumentation will also be helpful in forging successful alliances between academics and private industry.