Principal Investigator: Blanca Barquera
Sponsor: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Start/End Date: Feb. 15, 2009 – Jan. 31 2010
Amount: $200,000
Title: Development and Application of Method to Study Protein Kinetic Stability
The investigators recently demonstrated a "correlation between kinetic stability and a protein's resistance to the detergent sodium dodecyl sulfate" according to the abstract, and developed a simple diagonal 2D SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis method for the identification of kinetically stable proteins in complex mixtures. In continuing work, they aim to apply D2D SDS-PAGE with mass spectrometry and proteomics analysis to diverse organisms to explore "the biological significance and pervasiveness of kinetic stability, and to develop a new method to quantify kinetic stability."
Principal Investigator: Jorge Gardea-Torresdey
Sponsor: University of Texas at El Paso
Start/End Date: Feb. 1, 2009 – Jan. 31, 2012
Amount: $286,500
Title: Acquisition of a Liquid Chromatography - Mass Spectrometer for Research and Teaching at a Large Minority Serving Institution
Investigators plan to purchase an LC-MS with two exchangeable soft ionization devices — a direct analysis in real time, and an electrospray ionization — to be used at a service facility in the chemistry department and to support additional researchers in other departments. The instrument will also be accessible to students at the university and to faculty and students at nearby El Paso Community College and Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez.
Principal Investigator: Rachel Martin
Sponsor: University of California, Irvine
Start/End Date: Feb. 1, 2009 – Jan. 31, 2010
Amount: $147,000
Title: Switched-angle Spinning NMR for Investigation of Membrane Proteins
The goal of the award is for the development of a new switched-angle NMR probe and methodology for studying the structure of membrane proteins in their native environment. Matrilysin has been chosen as the initial target membrane protein.