A State-of-the-Art BIACORE T100 for UTMB

描述(由申请人提供)：该合同将为在加尔维斯顿的德克萨斯大学医学分校(UTMB)收购Biacore T100表面等离子体共振系统提供部分支持。分子识别是生物学和医学中最重要的问题之一。这个问题不仅仅是学术上的问题，因为对识别机制的清楚理解将有助于开发合理的设计策略，目的是产生治疗相关蛋白质的激动型或拮抗型调节剂。理解分子识别需要对结合过程提供定量的、机械的描述的技术。在过去的40年里，为此目的开发了许多方法，包括等温滴定量热法，并为广泛的现象提供了重要的见解。然而，没有一种单一的技术可以提供使用Biacore T100表面等离子体共振系统可用的功能组合。该仪器提供高灵敏度的自动化、高通量能力，只需要少量样品，并可提供结合过程的完整热力学和动力学表征。这种功能组合非常适合本建议书中描述的各种应用程序，包括基础应用程序和翻译应用程序。所要求的仪器将在Sealy结构生物学和分子生物物理中心的溶液生物物理核心实验室内安装、维护和操作。这一核心的博士级经理已经接受了Biacore的培训；他和主要用户在购买后将接受来自Biacore的额外培训。文书的日程安排将以网络为基础，任何冲突都将由一个已建立的咨询委员会解决，该委员会包括赠款的PI和主要用户。大约15%的可用时间将留给新用户和外部用户。这项技术能够影响本提案中描述的基础和应用研究工作，这预示着Biacore T100将在UTMB的翻译研究工作中发挥重要作用。尽管目前在校园内使用SPR仪器的机会非常有限，但每个主要用户都能够产生已公布的或初步的结果，这一事实表明了UTMB研究界对这项技术的承诺。 公共卫生相关性：分子识别是所有生物学和医学的基础物理过程，提供识别过程的快速和准确表征的技术对于理解疾病以及开发治疗疾病的药物至关重要。在这笔赠款中申请的仪器，Biacore T100表面等离子体共振系统，提供了一种最先进的手段来测量各种生物学问题的结合反应，并将代表UTMB翻译研究工作的核心技术。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This award will provide partial support for the acquisition of a Biacore T100 surface plasmon resonance system at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston. Molecular recognition is one of the most important problems in biology and medicine. This problem is not merely academic, since a clear understanding of the mechanism of recognition will facilitate the development of rational design strategies aimed at producing either agonistic or antagonistic modulators of therapeutically relevant proteins. Understanding molecular recognition requires technologies that provide a quantitative, mechanistic description of the binding process. Numerous methods have been developed to this end over the past 40 years, including isothermal titration calorimetry, and have provided significant insights into a broad range of phenomena. However, no single technique provides the combination of capabilities available using the Biacore T100 surface plasmon resonance system. This instrument provides automated, high-throughput capabilities with high sensitivity, requires only low sample quantities, and can provide a complete thermodynamic as well as kinetic characterization of the binding process. This combination of features is perfectly suited to the broad spectrum of applications, both basic and translational, described in this proposal. The requested instrument will be housed, maintained, and operated in the Solution Biophysics Core Laboratory of the Sealy Center for Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics. The PhD-level manager of this Core has already received training from Biacore; he and the major users will receive additional training from Biacore after purchase. Scheduling of the instrument will be web-based, and any conflicts will be resolved by an established advisory committee that includes the PI of the grant and major users. Approximately 15% of the available hours will be reserved for new and outside users. The ability of this technology to impact both the basic and applied research efforts described in this proposal portends a major role for the Biacore T100 in UTMB's translational research efforts. The fact that each of the primary users has been able to generate either published or preliminary results, despite the current very limited access to SPR instrumentation on campus, demonstrates the UTMB research community's commitment to this technology. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Molecular recognition is the physical process underlying all of biology and medicine, and technologies that provide a rapid and accurate characterization of the recognition process are fundamental to an understanding of diseases, as well as to the development of drugs to treat them. The instrument requested in this grant, the BIACORE T100 surface plasmon resonance system, provides a state-of-the-art means of measuring binding reactions for a diverse set of biological problems, and will represent a core technology in UTMB's translational research efforts.