Purchase of Analytical Ultracentrifuge for Molecular Biophysics at Florida State

描述(由申请人提供)：申请资金用于购买分析超速离心机，以增强佛罗里达州立大学在物理生物化学方面的研究能力。该仪器将被安置在物理生物化学设施中，这是一个位于分子生物物理研究所的中央设施，为化学和生物化学、生物科学和分子生物物理系的教职员工、学生和博士后助理提供服务。这一设施的工作人员是一名全职研究教员，其工资由大学支付，而不是由用户费用支付，从而为用户提供了大量支持。NIH资助的项目将得到该设备的加强，包括：从白喉棒杆菌、结核分枝杆菌和炭疽杆菌获得的抑制蛋白的金属激活，包含snoRNPs的蛋白质-RNA复合体的组装，结核分枝杆菌膜蛋白的结构生物学，表征HIV-1和SIV包膜(Gp120)表面(Gp120)和跨膜(Gp41)糖蛋白的天然和配体结合构象的三维形态，昆虫飞行肌肉的三维结构和组装，表征细胞黏附复合体的结构，以及表征细胞生长因子与肝素的相互作用。除了这些重大项目外，离心机还可能使分子生物物理研究所的其他教员和佛罗里达州立大学参与生物分子研究的其他系的研究受益。新的仪器将提高我们教员的研究能力和生产力，并为生物学、化学和生物化学以及分子生物物理系的研究生和博士后助理提供培训机会。相关性：分析超速离心法是一种用来表征溶液中生物分子大小和形状的方法。研究人员将使用该仪器来确定具有生物重要性的大分子复合体的化学计量学和组装能量学，这些复合体涉及肌肉收缩、RNA翻译后修饰、转录调控和膜蛋白离子通道。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Funds are requested for the purchase of an analytical ultracentrifuge to enhance the research capabilities in physical biochemistry at Florida State University. The instrument will be housed in the Physical Biochemistry Facility, a centralized facility located in the Institute of Molecular Biophysics, that serves faculty, students, and postdoctoral associates in the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, and Molecular Biophysics. This facility is staffed by a full-time research faculty member whose salary is paid for by the University, not by user fees, thereby providing substantial support for users. NIH funded projects that will be enhanced by this equipment include: metal activation of repressor proteins obtained from Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and Bacillus anthracis, the assembly of protein-RNA complexes comprising snoRNPs, structural biology of membrane proteins from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, characterizing the 3-D morphology of the native and ligand-bound conformation of the HIV-1 and SIV envelope (Env) surface (gp120) and transmembrane (gp41) glycoproteins, 3D structure and assembly of insect flight muscle, in characterizing the structure of cell adhesion complexes, and in characterizing the interaction of cell growth factors with heparan. In addition to these major projects, the centrifuge will potentially benefit the research of other faculty in the Institute of Molecular Biophysics and other departments participating in biomolecular research at Florida State University. The new instrumentation will enhance the research capability and productivity of our faculty and provide training opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral associates in the Departments of Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Molecular Biophysics. Relevance: Analytical ultracentrifugation is a method used to characterize the size and shape of biological molecules in solution. This instrument will be used by the investigators to define the stoichiometry and energetics of assembly for biologically important macromolecular complexes involved in muscle contraction, RNA post-translational modification, transcriptional regulation, and membrane protein ion channels.