The College of Engineering at Oklahoma State University (OSU)recently initiated a joint program in Biomedical Engineering. Faculty members from the College of Engineering and Physiological Sciences have been involved in this new program. There has been a significant increase in research activities and collaborations among these faculty members, in the areas of biomechanics, biomaterials, bioelectricity, bioinformatics and bio-nano technology. Many research projects conducted by these faculty members involve protein-protein interactions and biomarkers studies. The surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization (SELDI) ProteinChip reader is a rapid and high throughput system to study proteomics, protein interactions and enzymatic kinetic reactions. This technology has a high repeatability and only requires minimum sample volumes, which is a significant advantage for many low-yield biological systems. The ProteinChip reader can achieve ample information that would be otherwise undetectable from other measurement techniques. The ProteinChip technology will contribute significantly to the developing biomedical research in proteomics and biomarker studies. A SELDI ProteinChip reader will provide researchers, not only from OSU, but also those from nearby research institutes, a powerful new tool to broaden their research capabilities and to advance their research in proteomics and biomarker studies significantly.
Surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF) is a protein analysis technique in which mixtures of proteins are analyzed. SELDI is suitable for use in biomarker discovery (e.g. identifying protein peaks that differ between control and diseased samples). SELDI differs from other mass spectrometry techniques in that particular classes of proteins may be enriched in the sample prior to analysis by the use of ProteinChips with differing surface chemistry. The SELDI instrument was delivered, installed and calibrated in January 2011. Due to personnel changes, the instrument was moved to another location on campus in November 2013, where it was reinstalled and calibrated. It is currently fully operational; however, the manufacturer discontinued all support for the SELDI instrument in July 2014. ProteinChips and other items necessary for sample analysis with the SELDI instrument were obtained from the company prior to this time, and will be made available to any OSU researcher who wishes to use the instrument for as long as they last, so that the working life of the instrument may continue. Investigators from the Depts. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Physiological Sciences have used the SELDI instrument to date. Results obtained have been presented in the form of abstracts/posters at national meetings, graduate student theses/dissertations, and manuscripts.
