MRI: Acquisition of a Lumick's SuperC-TRAP correlative optical tweezers and Fluorescence Microscope (CTFM) system

美国东北大学（NEU）和来自新英格兰生物实验室（NEB）、布里奇沃特州立大学（Bridgewater State University）和韦尔斯利学院（Wellesley College）的参与者获得了一项奖励，购买Lumicks SuperC-TRAP相关光学镊子和荧光显微镜（CTFM），用于单分子研究，在分子水平上操纵和观察生物相互作用。使用该工具的项目将在参与者的实验室中引入不同的研究人员群体，包括NEU和NEB的本科合作研究人员，以了解前沿的跨学科科学。部分由于来自韦尔斯利学院和布里奇沃特州立大学的主要用户的参与，来自服务不足社区的女性和研究人员将获得新的研究经验。CTFM仪器将被纳入新东北大学的两门主要本科课程，学生将有机会使用CTFM仪器，设计和测试dna相互作用运动蛋白的突变。每年两次的研讨会将由Lumicks主办，由东北大学主办，以吸引和培训地区用户，该仪器将广泛宣传。CTFM仪器将允许用户以亚皮牛顿分辨率测量和应用张力到单个生物分子，并在这些测量过程中实时检测单个荧光标记分子的存在，数量和位置。这允许用户推或拉生物系统，并观察系统的反应，以强制使用荧光标签。同时，用户可以通过测量系统响应这些输入时的力或拉伸变化来“感受”系统对这些输入的反应。重要的是，这些观察结果揭示了非常小的长度尺度上的相互作用，揭示了单个蛋白质与底物相互作用的活性。该仪器将使跨学科科学前沿的创新项目成为可能，包括研究细胞DNA复制和DNA损伤修复如何发生的项目，逆转录病毒如何复制其基因组，以及DNA如何在细胞中包装（和可以拆包）。对胶原蛋白的研究将探讨力如何影响组织修复，而聚合物动力学的研究将利用力来观察和指导蛋白质的组装。这些研究的结果将允许在单分子水平上观察实时生物动力学，为所探测的生物系统的功能提供重要的新见解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

An award is made to Northeastern University (NEU), with participants from New England Biolabs (NEB), Bridgewater State University, and Wellesley College, to purchase a Lumicks SuperC-TRAP correlative optical tweezers and fluorescence microscope (CTFM) for single-molecule research to manipulate and observe biological interactions at the molecular level. The projects using this instrument will introduce a diverse group of researchers in the laboratories of the participants, including undergraduate co-op researchers at NEU and NEB, to cutting edge interdisciplinary science. Due in part to the participation of major users from Wellesley College and Bridgewater State University, women and researchers from underserved communities will gain access to new research experiences. The CTFM instrument will be incorporated into two major undergraduate courses at NEU, in which students will have the opportunity to use the CTFM instrument and to design and test mutations on DNA-interacting motor proteins. Biannual workshops to attract and train regional users will be run by Lumicks and hosted by Northeastern, and the instrument will be advertised widely.The CTFM instrument will allow users to measure and apply tension to single biomolecules with sub-picoNewton resolution, and to detect the presence, number, and position of individual fluorescently labeled molecules during these measurements in real time. This allows users to push or pull on biological systems and observe the reaction of the systems to force by using fluorescent labels. Simultaneously, the users can "feel" the reaction of the systems to these inputs through measurements of force or extension changes as the system responds to these inputs. Importantly, these observations reveal interactions at very small length scales, revealing activities of single proteins interacting with a substrate. Innovative projects at the forefront of interdisciplinary science will be enabled by this instrument, including projects to study how cellular DNA replication and repair of DNA damage occurs, how retroviruses copy their genomes, and how DNA is packaged (and can be unpackaged) in cells. Studies on collagen will probe how force affects tissue repair, while studies on polymer dynamics will use force to observe and direct protein assembly. The results of these studies will allow observation of real-time biological dynamics at the single molecule level, providing significant new insights into the functions of the biological systems probed.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.