Project Abstract
Funds are being requested for the purchase of an X-Band Continuous-Wave Electron Paramagnetic Resonance
Spectrometer, which will enhance the interdisciplinary and multicampus biomedical research capability of the
University of Puerto Rico (UPR) College of Natural Sciences in Chemistry and also the UPR Medical Sciences
Campus Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Department of Physiology and Biophysics. Following
the devastating events of natural disasters and major economic budget cuts, researchers are aiming to expand the
resources available to rebuild and refocus their research efforts to multiply their productivity and maintain
excellence of graduate student development. A state-of-the-art EPR with the sensitivity to directly probe
paramagnetic species in biological materials and living organisms would dramatically expand our ability to
answer important questions that pertain to insight into the development and progression of diseases, drug design
and delivery, and studying structural changes that impact on biomolecular function and interactions. No other
technique can directly study such species with such a high degree of specificity. The absence of a paramagnetic
species does not limit the utility of an EPR to study the activity of biomedically relevant ions, molecules, and
materials as paramagnetic spin labels can be covalently linked to these agents. The instrumentation will be located
in the Proteomics and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance instrumentation space at the Molecular Science Research
Center of the UPR Río Piedras (RP) campus and will be utilized by a diverse team of researchers from UPR Rio
Piedras, Mayagüez, and Centro Medico campuses composed of Drs. Tinoco, Rodríguez-Berrios, Bayro, Palai,
Weiner, Griebenow, Montes, Colón, López-Garriga, Meléndez, Ayala-Peña, and Javadov. This team consists of
early career and senior level researchers. This instrumentation will be made available to other investigators in the
College of Natural Sciences of all institutions of the UPR system including its Medical Sciences campus. It will
also be implemented in the creation of new laboratory experiences for students of the UPR RP Protein
Biochemistry course (Chem 4865). The instrument will be presented in exhibition workshops for faculty and
student participants of the NIH RISE, MARC, and INBRE and other STEM traineeship programs to attract
additional biomedical investigators as users and to foster interdisciplinary collaborations between these
investigators.
