Funds are requested for the acquisition of a liquid state 14.1 Tesla (600 MHz proton frequency) NMR spectrometer to be used by a diverse group of highly productive scientists from the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Microbiology, Veterinary Molecular Biology, and Plant Pathology at Montana State University, as well as Montana Tech, and the University of Montana. This instrument would expand the NMR-based research capabilities of a large group of MSU investigators currently involved in structural biology research. The majority of the projects require the collection of high resolution NMR data on large proteins, or on peptide-protein complexes, in solution. Acquisition of a 600 MHz NMR spectrometer would also free up NMR time on the current 500 MHz NMR spectrometer, making it more available to chemists involved in the synthesis and characterization of bioactive compounds. At present, the MSU 500:MHz NMR spectrometer operates 24 hours/day, and is used 99% of the time by members of the membrane protein research group, and by Dr. Copie's research which concerns the structure-function study of proteins, using recently developed multinuclear and multi-dimensional solution NMR methods. The growing demand for 500 MHz NMR time already exceeds the amount of instrument time available. Acquisition of a 600 MHz spectrometer would accomplish two goals: 1) It would enable members of the structural biology group to take advantage of the greater sensitivity and resolution of a 600 MHz NMR instrument to advance their structure-function studies on proteins, or on peptide- protein complexes, and 2). It would provide easier access to the 500 MHz NMR spectrometer for a wide range of organic chemistry research. With the new instrument, the investigators listed below, along with a group of several secondary investigators, will be in a position to expand their research to larger molecules, and to carry out competitive research related to structure and function in biological systems. The availability of the 14.1 T spectrometer will allow researchers to access the currently overbooked 11.7 T instrument.
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