Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Biological processes in all living organisms are mediated by highly coordinated and complex interactions between biomolecules. Scrutinizing the molecular bases of these interactions and their regulations allows us to develop a mechanistic understanding of life. Moreover, many human diseases are the result of aberrant protein-protein and/or protein-DNA interactions. Unraveling the interactions of these biomolecules in health and disease will provide invaluable insight into the development of effective treatments for the diseases. This application requests urgent funding for a state-of-the-art Octet K2 system. The equipment will provide the 10 applicants and many other NSERC-funded researchers at Western with a cutting-edge tool to investigate biomolecular interactions involved in critical cellular events, such as antioxidant response, protein ubiquitination, DNA repair, viral infection, and metabolism. Building on the innovative biolayer interferometry technology, The Octet K2 will allow the affinities and kinetics of protein-protein, protein-DNA/RNA, and protein-small molecule interactions to be measured with high precision and accuracy. All experiments can be performed with small amounts of samples and in an automated and high throughput manner, which cannot be accomplished with any existing instrumentation at Western. The Octet K2 is urgently needed by researchers at Western as we currently have no other high-throughput instrumentation to measure the affinities and kinetics of biological molecules. Our 20-year old isothermal titration calorimeter and surface plasmon resonance instrument that were housed in the Biomolecular Interactions and Conformations Facility (BICF) at Western were decommissioned last year due to excessive repairs and un-upgradable computer systems. These two low-throughput instruments were the workhorses for the applicants and >120 HQP in more than 40 research groups at Western to measure affinities and kinetics of biomolecular interactions. The Octet K2 will offer more rapid analysis, higher throughput and a significantly larger dynamic range than either of the two previous instruments. This will not only fill our urgent need for instrumentation but will provide a more versatile instrument that will stimulate innovative research capabilities that are essential for the applicants to increase the impact of their research. To ensure other NSERC-funded researchers at Western can also benefit from the new instrument, the Octet K2 will be integrated into BICF, an open-access multi-user core facility. The system will be managed and maintained by the Facility Manager of the BICF. Overall, the Octet K2 will open up unprecedented opportunities to the applicants and other NSERC-funded researchers at Western to tackle sophisticated research problems that will lead to breakthroughs in our fundamental understanding of biomolecular interactions. Hundreds of researchers and HQPs will benefit from this state-of-the-art technology.