Funds are requested to purchase the items of equipment necessary to constitute a fully functional automated peptide synthesis facility at the University of Kentucky. This facility will be incorporated into and complete our Macromolecular Structure Analysis Core Laboratory. This laboratory is already equipped with the best currently available equipment for protein/peptide sequencing and analysis and for oligonucleotide synthesis and sequencing. Current equipment includes an ABI gas phase protein sequencer, a Beckman Model 6300 amino acid analyzer and an ABI automatic oligonucleotide synthesizer. These facilities are the only such available within the State of Kentucky and within a 200 mile radius of our University. Thus, they are essential for the studies of a number of NIH-funded investigators on this campus, listed above as co-investigators and whose research programs are set forth in the narrative portions of the application. These unique facilities will also serve as a research resource for other members of the scientific community in our geographic region on a prioritized, fee-for-use basis.
