The primary objective of this proposal is to obtain funding that will be used to purchase a refrigerated, ultracentrifuge. Purchasing an ultracentrifuge will enable Grand View College: 1) To train undergraduate students in membrane isolation protocols and a variety of techniques commonly used in cell biology, molecular biology, and biochemistry laboratories. 2) To conduct research to identify the biochemical and molecular factors associated with ethanol-induced impairment of central nervous system development in chicks. This research project is currently studying how ethanol alters embryonic chick brain membranes and how such alterations may impair cellular responses to a number of morphogens required for neuron differentiation. 3) To conduct further collaborative research with Dr. Norman Paradise (lowa Methodist Medical Center, Director of Surgical Research) and Dr. LaRhee Henderson (Drake University, Assoc. Prof. of Chemistry). This collaborative project is directed at identifying the biochemical relationships between obesity and cardiac dysfunction in the Zucker rat. We are currently characterizing Zucker rat cardiac membrane lipids and studying how signal transduction is impaired in Zucker rat cardiac membranes as compared to lean rats. Both projects described in this grant proposal are currently underway and utilize lipid biochemistry techniques and molecular biology protocols. The lipid biochemistry techniques attempt to define how membranes mediate genetic and biochemical response to stress. The purchase of a refrigerated ultracentrifuge would enable us to fractionate cells, isolate plasma and sarcolemma membranes, and to measure the biochemical composition of membranes. Since these research projects utilize undergraduate students from Grand View College (Fall, 1993 full time enrollment =1025), and collaborative students from Drake University and Iowa Methodist Medical Center (the largest hospital in Des Moines), the purchase of an ultracentrif uge would strengthen the cell biology and biochemical education of a number of students.
