Proposal

The funds requested in this proposal are aimed towards purchasing a state-of-the-art ITC instrument and integration of this technology as part of a transformational new way of teaching upper level undergraduate courses at the interface of chemistry and biology. The ITC would also become a valuable asset for the independent research conducted by a significant number of undergraduate students each semester in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. On average ~80 students per year participate in Directed Independent Study (DIS) Chemistry program, with estimated 50% of those students being a Biology major. We also expect use of this instrument by students in our new Honors Chemistry program. We estimate the overall number of students per year that will greatly benefit from using this cutting-edge technological hardware and/or software is at least ~ 500+. These efforts will give students a positive perspective on working in the interdisciplinary research field and prepare them better for continuation of their education in a graduate program and/or for a highly competitive STEM job market.

ITC is used to determine basic chemical details of a binding interaction (affinity, thermodynamics and stoichiometry) in a single experiment and under native conditions. The more traditional use of this technology is in basic physical chemistry studies. Due to the advances in the technology over the years ITC is used heavily in biomedical sciences to measure the binding affinities of potential drugs (small-molecules, peptides and proteins) to DNA, RNA, and proteins, and has become a fundamental application in optimization of rational drug design. Considering FAU’s mission to excellence in teaching and research and our departmental strengths in Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery research with the aim of improving human health and well-being (FAU Healthy Aging Pillar), we strongly believe that the acquisition of ITC instrument will further improve the necessary skills of our undergraduates to succeed and excel in a rigorous graduate program and/or being able to meet the demand of a rapidly growing biotech industry in south Florida (FAU Community Engagement and Economic Development Platform).

The Chemistry Department has been generously funded by the FAU Tech Fee grants in past, and we hope that the acquisition of the new ITC technology will build on the current strengths of our Department in providing state-of-the-art hardware and software technologies to our students. FAU currently has only one ITC instrument located in Biomedical Science Department, College of Medicine. This instrument is not widely accessible to the undergraduate students and also being an older technology has many disadvantages with respect to ease of use and broad applications to the biological systems. This proposal aims to change this situation and enable as many as possible undergraduate students to have access and experience in using this very important technology in various fields at the interface of chemistry and biology. 

The last decade has seen many new biologic type of drugs on the market as a consequence of the development of high sensitivity isothermal titration calorimetric equipment that provides a dramatic advance in the gathering of thermodynamic data about the interactions between biological macromolecules. The Nano ITC low volume instruments require substantially less sample and can reduce the time required to complete experiment by one-half. Thus these new technology is designed to improve laboratory productivity and efficiency by performing high-sensitivity analyses on nanomolar quantities of biomolecules, often of limited availability. In addition, concomitant advances in software technology have facilitated rapid and more detailed analysis of collected thermodynamic and stoichiometry data. Many new instrument designs are emerging and in the biosciences may lead to high-throughput calorimetric screening and testing of genetically modified cells, pharmaceuticals, and medical biomaterials. Currently, the leading instruments are the Microcal ITC series and the TA Instruments Nano-ITC. Their quotes are attached. 

The incorporation of this technology into teaching and research training can be achieved by:

1) Innovative teaching approaches such as development of Research and Inquiry (RI) designated courses. The RI designated courses are initiated by Dr. Donna Chamely-Wiik, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Research. These RI courses are planned for upper-division, thus would fit perfectly the goals of incorporating ITC technology as part of Biochemistry 1 and 2 (BCH 3033 and BCH 3034), Advance Biochemistry (BCH 4035), Physical Chemistry 1 and 2 (CHM 3410 and CHM 3411), Bioanalytical Instrumentation (CHM 4139), and/or Inorganic Chemistry (CHM 3609) course. By using the requested ITC instrument in the proposed lecture courses students would participate in the inquiry-based projects observe (and calculate) the complex interactions that occur between molecules in real life environments.

2) Incorporation of ITC technology component within the upper-level division lab courses, such as Biochemistry Lab (BCH 3103L), Bioanalytical Instrumentation Lab (CHM 4139L), Physical Chemistry Lab (CHM 3410L and CHM 3411L), and/or Inorganic Chemistry Lab (CHM 3609L). Offering access to ITC experiments in these laboratory courses will certainly enrich the educational experience of our undergraduate students, and the breadth of experiments offered will reflect the diversity of expertise and training of Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry’s faculty. The software technology will allow students to simulate and optimize experimental set-up prior to the experiment and perform the post lab analysis of the binding curves.

3) Involvement of student participant in Chemistry DIS (CHM 4905) and Honors program in practical training in applying ITC to their systems of interest.

4) Providing service and training to undergraduate students carrying out undergraduate research in other disciplines: geology, medicine, physics and biology with the goal to broaden the future community of researchers at the chemistry-biology interface.

The instrument will be located in Dr. Cudic’s lab. Dr. Cudic has joined FAU in fall 2014 as an Assistant Professor. Her research interests are in the field of glycosciences. She is using multidisciplinary approaches at the interface of chemistry and biology to elucidate carbohydrate recognition systems of biological and medical relevance. She has successfully used ITC technology in her research and has taught about this technology in Kinetics and Energetics course and Advanced Biochemistry course. Since joining FAU Dr. Cudic has trained 8 undergraduate students through the DIS program in Chemistry: 5 Biology majors, 2 Chemistry major, and one Biochemistry major. This semester Dr. Cudic has also accepted into the training program one of the FAU High students, participant of the FAU High Research Program.  

Hardware (and software): Isothermal titration calorimeter
TA instruments (preferred quote):

Nano ITC Low Volume Gold: Nano ITC Low Volume System with 24k Gold Cylindrical Cell. The system includes the calorimeter insert assembly, electronics chassis, plus data acquisition and interface hardware. PC computer and flat screen monitor are included in the quote as optional items as they can be purchased from other source. All necessary Nano ITC Standard Volume operating and analysis software is included. On-site installation and training is provided.

Quote details: Quoted on 11/04/2015, quote prepared by Mark Taylor, TA Instruments, mtaylor@tainstruments.com, (770) 312-0819

Hardware & Software subtotal = $87,035 (this quote does not itemize hardware versus software costs)

Software (and hardware): Isothermal titration calorimeter
TA instruments (preferred quote):

The operating and data analysis software are un-keyed and can be installed on Windows XP or Windows 7 (32-bit) compatible computers with CD-ROM drives. This fact provides a major advantage for students, allowing them to work on the data analysis on their own convenience. 

Quote details: Quoted on 11/04/2015, quote prepared by Mark Taylor, TA Instruments, mtaylor@tainstruments.com, (770) 312-0819

Hardware & Software subtotal = $87,035 (this quote does not itemize hardware versus software costs)

There will be no extra cost associated with implementation of this equipment.

In the event of this proposal being funded the installation of ITC software and hardware will be completed by TA Instruments representative immediately after its delivery. Dr. Mare Cudic will coordinate the installation process. 

The TA staff will perform on-site training that will include:

1) Theory & Instrumentation - Lecture

2)  Applications - Lecture

3)  Calibration & Maintenance - Hands-on

4)  Running your samples - Hands-on

5)  Analyzing your data - Hands-on

The installation will likely take place during the spring 2016.

Dr. Mare Cudic will coordinate the introduction of ITC technology in the proposed upper-level division courses. The ITC lab component will be implemented immediately within the Bioanalytical Instrumentation Lab (CHM 4139L) and Physical Chemistry Lab (CHM 3410L and CHM 3411L). The costs of the reaction reagents will be covered from the lab fees for teaching purposes and faculty’s own research funds for research purposes.

In addition, Dr. Mare Cudic and Dr. Maria Rodriguez (Laboratory manager in Dr. Cudic’s lab) will be in charge of coordinating usage of the ITC technology by undergraduate student researchers (DIS students) at FAU.

Also, the ITC require virtually no additional maintenance.