High-Frequency Pulsed EPR Spectrometer

描述(申请人提供)：美国国立卫生研究院资助的一组研究人员计划购买一台布鲁克E680电子顺磁共振(EPR)光谱仪，以加强他们对广泛的生物医学问题的研究。该仪器将提供商业光谱仪在整个中西部地区所不具备的两个功能：(1)高场超导磁体和相关的高频(94 GHz，“W波段”)操作；(2)脉冲激励和相关的时间域检测。有了这台仪器，商用EPR仪器经历了一场类似于80年代和90年代核磁共振的革命，高频和时域技术的出现显著提高了灵敏度和分辨率，提供了对分子结构、动力学和相互作用的更深入和更直接的物理洞察。这产生了爆炸式的研究机会，开辟了位置定向自旋标记(SDSL)和顺磁性金属络合物分析的全新研究领域。这些仪器只由德国的布鲁克公司制造，已经在欧洲各地的实验室中安装，但在美国安装的很少，明尼苏达州、威斯康星州或爱荷华州也没有这样的仪器。因此，如果这一领域的研究人员要继续在EPR应用中保持其高水平的生产力，就需要所需的仪器，如：肌球蛋白结构动力学(Thomas、Rayment、Ttus和Nesmelov)、心脏钙运输调节(Thomas和Veglia)、肌肉衰老的生物物理学(Thompson和Thomas)、金属蛋白结构和机制(Lipscomb和Que)、SNARE介导膜融合(Shin)、病毒DNA包装的结构动力学(Anderson)以及心力衰竭的生物能量学(Bache和Nesmelov)。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A group of NIH-funded investigators plans to acquire a Bruker E680 electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer, to enhance their research on a wide range of biomedical problems. This instrument will offer two features that are not available in a commercial spectrometer in the entire upper Midwest: (1) a high-field superconducting magnet and the associated high-frequency (94 GHz, "W-band") operation, and (2) pulsed excitation and the associated time-domain detection. With this instrument, commercial EPR instrumentation has undergone a revolution similar to that of NMR in the 80s and 90s, with the advent of higher frequencies and time-domain technology providing dramatic improvements in sensitivity and resolution, providing deeper and more direct physical insight into molecular structure, dynamics, and interactions. This has produced an explosion of research opportunities, opening up whole new areas of investigation in site-directed spin- labeling (SDSL) and analysis of paramagnetic metal complexes. These instruments, manufactured only by Bruker in Germany, have already been installed in labs throughout Europe, but very few have been installed in the United States, and there is no such instrument in Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Iowa. Thus the requested instrument is needed if researchers in this region are to continue their high level of productivity in EPR applications, such as the following: Myosin Structural Dynamics (Thomas, Rayment, Titus, and Nesmelov), Regulation of Cardiac Calcium Transport (Thomas and Veglia), Biophysics of Muscle Aging (Thompson and Thomas), Metalloprotein Structure and Mechanism (Lipscomb and Que), SNARE-mediated Membrane Fusion (Shin), Structural Dynamics of Viral DNA Packaging (Anderson), and Bioenergetics of Heart Failure (Bache and Nesmelov).