Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

This is an application for a combined high performance liquid chromatography / mass spectrometer (LC-MS) platform to support cutting edge research programs of an integrated group of researchers from Institut de Pharmacologie de Sherbrooke. Research programs involve the synthesis of peptides and peptidomimetics to elucidate fundamental biological processes, such as structure-function of G protein-coupled receptors, enzymes and transcription factors. The proposed research will unravel basic mechanisms of biological targets involved in the transmission of pain signals, the machinery of cancer cells or the propagation of influenza. A robust LC-MS platform is requested in order to analyze and characterize newly synthesized compounds that will be used as molecular probes to better understand these basic processes of the cellular machinery. Importantly, the above research is highly interdisciplinary and will favor the training of highly qualified personnel in medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, physiology, structural biology and bioinformatics, owing to the high number of collaborations between co-applicants. The new molecules will also be the object of new intellectual property.