A grant has been awarded to Dr. Peter H. von Hippel of the Institute of Molecular Biology at the University of Oregon, serving as Principal Investigator for a group seven co-PIs, whose research groups will all use the new equipment in their various research programs. The equipment to be purchased is a Spectrofluorometer, which will make possible new and incisive studies of protein-protein, protein-nucleic acid, and protein-ligand interactions involved in the functioning and regulation of a variety of "macromolecular machines" of physiological importance. A variety of sophisticated research problems will be pursued using this facility, which will permit fluorescent measurements at very low concentrations and within cells. The equipment will be coupled to a stopped-flow kinetic device to follow biological reactions in milliseconds, and can be used in either a steady-state or a time-resolved mode to measure fluorescence quenching and anisotropy. Research problems to be studied include assembly and regulation of DNA replication and transcription complexes (P. von Hippel laboratory), energetics of signaling in bacterial chemotaxsis (Frederick Dahlquist laboratory), structure and functional regulation of nuclear receptors by hormones (Beatrice Darimont laboratory), development and characterization of green fluorescent protein-based biosensors (S. J. Remington laboratory), measurement of the mobility of mitochondria and other organelles in live cells and studies of protein and nucleic acid dynamics in vitro (Andrew Marcus laboratory), studies on the assembly of eukaryotic RNA polymerase II transcription complexes (Diane Hawley laboratory), and analysis of protein folding and assembly reactions (Brian Matthews laboratory). These research projects, as well as those of other groups within the Institute of Molecular Biology, will take advantage of the full range of capabilities of the new fluorescence facility. All the research projects will focus on gaining increased molecular understanding of the functional and regulatory systems of cells and tissues, and the results will contribute both to our basic knowledge of biological regulatory systems.
