This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project, supported in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, focusses on the development of analytical methods to quantify the partitioning of substance P through the blood brain barrier. Professor Lunte and her students at the University of Kansas will study methods to derivatize substance P so that it can be analytically detected. One strategy involves pre- or postcolumn derivatization of substance P with naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxaldehyde combined with capillary electrophoresis so that laser induced fluorescence detection can be used. The second approach involves precolumn derivatization with the biuret reagent followed by chromatographic separation with dual electrode electrochemical detection. This CAREER project will enable students to learn state-of-the-art methods for quantifying picomolar concentrations of biologically significant analytes and to test the hypothesis that substance P crosses the blood brain barrier and plays a role in central nervous system function. Substance P is a neuropeptide that plays a role in maintaining the functional status of the brain at very low concentration levels. The nature of its role has not been quantified because there are no functional groups on the molecule that impart either spectroscopic or electrochemical responses that can be used as analytical signals. In this CAREER research project Professor Lunte and her students will develop two separate methods that permit the analysis of substance P at the concentration levels required. Substance P will be modified so that a fluorescence signal can be measured in one procedure and an electrochemical modifying agent will be used in a second procedure so that an electroanalytical signal can be measured. These modification procedures will be coupled with the separation method capillary electrophoresis in order to make the analyses selective for substance P. In addition to the educational impact of involving students in this work, Professor Lunte will implement a course for all science students designed to improve the efficacy of communicating scientific information between scientific disciplines and to the public at large.
