An award is made to Marquette University for the acquisition of a small volume isothermal titration calorimeter (ITC) for the purpose of supporting research and education in the departments of Biological Sciences and Chemistry. ITC allows simultaneous measurements of multiple binding parameters in a single experiment, allowing quantitative thermodynamic analyses of biomolecular interactions in solution. A highly sensitive, small-volume instrument is particularly amenable to research in the life sciences, where sample preparation is time-consuming and expensive. This award will enhance research efforts aimed at (a) characterizing binding interactions between proteins and small molecules that will reveal new mechanistic details for metabolic and cell signaling enzymes; (b) characterizing protein:protein, protein:nucleotide and protein:lipid interactions in regulatory systems involved in maintaining cellular homeostasis; (c) measuring detailed thermodynamic profiles of biomolecular binding events in order to complement and enhance existing spectroscopic methods.
This award will provide new instrumentation to support biochemical and biophysical research programs at both Marquette University and Concordia University, and will expand the biophysical infrastructure available to the broader Milwaukee research community. The ITC instrument will support educational initiatives at Marquette University through its incorporation into existing advanced laboratory courses in biochemistry and biophysics. It will also be accessible to students participating in undergraduate research programs in both biology and chemistry. The ITC instrument is easy to operate, allowing undergraduate students to gain first-hand experience in obtaining and interpreting thermodynamic data that are central to modern biochemistry and biophysics.
This project supported the purchase of a MicroCal iTC200 isothermal titration calorimeter (ITC) for research and teaching at Marquette University. This instrument measures changes in heat that accompany binding interactions between biomolecules, permitting a detailed thermodynamic profile that reports on binding stoichiometry, enthalpy and entropy changes. The iTC200 is capable of accurate measurements on relatively low sample volumes and is easy both to operate and maintain. This makes it an ideal component of the shared instrument resources available for research and teaching at Marquette University. Intellectual Merit: The ITC has been installed to support the basic research programs of seven Marquette faculty and their students in the departments of Biological Sciences and Chemistry. This instrumentation is enabling the acquisition of quantitative data to facilitate research on the structure and function of complex enzyme systems, the mechanism of cell-signaling enzymes and the basis of protein-protein interactions in essential cellular complexes. The instrument was purchased from GE Healthcare and installed in a dedicated laboratory at Marquette University in April, 2014 and it has been fully operational since that time. Since its installation, the instrument has been used to collect preliminary data by several Marquette research laboratories. Given the short one-year duration of this award, it is not yet possible to report on specific publications arising from the installation of this instrument. Broader Impacts: In the coming year, the instrument will be introduced into advanced graduate and undergraduate teaching labs that are designed to expose students to modern, advanced biophysical research instrumentation. Furthermore, the ITC has enhanced the research and education infrastructure at Marquette University and throughout the Greater Milwaukee Region.
