MRI: Acquisition of a 600 Mhz NMR Spectrometer at the University of Southern California

在理查德·W·罗伯茨博士和马克·汤普森博士的监督下，美国国家科学基金会的核磁共振计划向南加州大学授予了一笔赠款。这笔赠款的资金将用于购买一台600 MHz核磁共振光谱仪，南加州大学所有部门都可以使用。核磁共振波谱(也称为核磁共振)可以说是研究分子最通用的技术。这台仪器将允许南加州大学的科学家们以低于十亿分之一米(一纳米)的细节来确定分子的结构和运动。因此，该仪器将对南加州大学在1.生物医学纳米科学、2.成像和3.能源领域的科学目标产生重大的积极影响。特别是，该仪器将用于1)确定基础研究、新疗法和诊断所需的生物分子(DNA、RNA和蛋白质)的结构，2)检查生物分子的运动，3)测量药物和类药物分子与其治疗目标的相互作用，4)详细研究化学反应，5)探索与能量产生有关的新的化学方法和材料。在此之前，南加州大学在开放用户设施中缺乏现代生物分子核磁共振。因此，该工具的第一个影响将是为参与该项目的用户群体提供一个新的培训和研究工具。这其中包括南加州大学6个学院和5个学院的18名教职员工、14名本科生、104名研究生和54名博士后。其次，这笔赠款将有助于在南加州大学建立一个通用结构生物学讨论会，将该仪器(核磁共振)与其他用于确定分子结构的方法(如X射线结晶学)相结合。最后，该工具将被用作招募和培训工具，并用于南加州大学三人组和南加州大学MESA计划，旨在服务于处于不利地位的、以科学为导向的高三和高年级学生。

A grant has been awarded under the NSF's MRI program to the University of Southern California under the supervision of Dr. Richard W. Roberts and Dr. Mark Thompson. Funds from this grant will be used to purchase a 600 MHz NMR spectrometer that will be accessible to all departments at USC. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (also known as NMR) is arguably the most versatile technique available for studying molecules. This instrument will allow scientists at USC to determine the structures and movements of molecules with detail down to less than 1 billionth of a meter, a nanometer. As such, this instrument will have a major positive impact on USC's scientific goals in the areas of 1. Biomedical Nanoscience, 2. Imaging, and 3. Energy. In particular, the instrument will be used 1) to determine the structures of biological molecules (DNA, RNA and proteins) needed for basic research, new therapies, and diagnostics, 2) to examine the motions of biological molecules, 3) to measure the interactions of drugs and drug-like molecules with their therapeutic targets, 4) to study chemical reactions in great detail, and 5) to explore new chemical methods and materials relevant to energy production. Prior to this grant, USC lacked a modern biomolecular NMR in an open user facility. The first impact of this instrument will thus be to provide a new training and research tool for user groups involved in this project. This includes 18 faculty, 14 undergraduates, 104 graduate students and 54 postdocs across 6 academic departments and 5 schools within USC. Second, this grant will enable establishing a general structural biology colloquia at USC integrating this instrument (NMR) with other methods used to determine the structures of molecules, such as X-ray crystallography. Finally, this instrument will be used as a recruiting and training tool and for the USC TRIO and USC MESA programs aimed at serving disadvantaged, science-oriented high school juniors and seniors.