Beckman XL-I Analytical Ultracentrifuge

描述(由申请人提供)：这是一项收购最先进的Beckman Optima(TM)XL-I分析性超速离心机的提案，该超速离心机同时配备了吸收和瑞利干涉光学装置。目前，塔夫茨大学三个校区中的任何一个都没有分析性超速离心机。调查员小组由7名用户组成，其中6名由美国国立卫生研究院资助，将作为核心用户组。七名调查人员中有五人来自塔夫茨A&S学院、工程(梅德福)和塔夫茨大学医学院(波士顿)的四个不同部门。其中两名研究人员在哈佛医学院神经病学系工作。波士顿生物医学研究所分析超速离心研究实验室主任将担任该设施的外部顾问。为了实现美国国立卫生研究院资助的塔夫茨和哈佛医学院研究项目的目标，获得分析性超速离心机变得至关重要。这些研究人员对分析超速离心法的需求在当时的条件下是无法满足的。这里确定的用户群体带来了广泛的研究背景和专业知识，并积极参与定量探索大分子结构和功能。平衡沉淀法和速度沉淀法都将用于确定分子体系的热力学和流体力学参数。XL-I将大大增强主要用户确定与大分子相互作用相关的描述符的能力，如平衡常数、化学计量和分子形状。分析型超速离心仪特别适用于测量溶液中大分子的性质，它是pH、离子强度和溶液成分的函数。该仪器将满足塔夫茨和哈佛医学院NIH支持的研究人员的迫切需求，并极大地丰富塔夫茨现有的研究基础设施。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is a proposal to acquire a state-of-the-art Beckman Optima(TM) XL-I analytical ultracentrifuge equipped with both absorbance and Rayleigh interference optics. There are currently no analytical ultracentrifuges available at Tufts University on any of the three campuses. The investigator group is composed of seven users, six of whom are funded by the NIH and will serve as the core user group. Five of the seven investigators are from four different departments at Tufts A & S, and Engineering (Medford) and Tufts University School of Medicine (Boston). Two of the investigators are in the Department of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. The Director of the Analytical Ultracentrifugation Research Laboratory at the Boston Biomedical Research Institute will serve as an external advisor to the facility. In order to accomplish the aims of the NIH-funded research programs at Tufts and Harvard Medical School, the acquisition of an analytical ultracentrifuge has become essential. The need of these researchers for an analytical ultracentrifuge cannot be met under prevailing conditions. The user group identified here brings a broad spectrum of research backgrounds and expertise and is actively engaged in quantitatively probing macromolecular structure and function. Both equilibrium and velocity sedimentation will be used to determine thermodynamic and hydrodynamic parameters of molecular systems. The XL-I will greatly enhance the ability of the major users to determine descriptors associated with macromolecular interactions such as equilibrium constants, stoichiometries and molecular shapes. The analytical ultracentrifuge is uniquely suited to measure properties of macromolecules in solution as a function of pH, ionic strength and solution components. This instrument will fulfill an acute need of NIH supported investigators at Tufts and Harvard Medical School and greatly enrich the existing research infrastructure at Tufts.