Circular Dichroism Spectrophotometer - Project Summary This application requests funding to obtain a circular dichroism (CD) spectrophotometer, specifically a Jasco J-1500 model with a detection wavelength of 160-1,600nm. The requested instrument includes a Peltier temperature controller, multi-sample and low-volume sample capability, fluorescence detection, automatic titration capability and magnetic circular dichroism capability. The acquisition of this state-of-the-art piece of equipment will enhance opportunities at SJSU and our partner institutions, enabling users to further their research and education goals, and further increasing and diversifying the U.S. biomedical research enterprise. This instrument, with 7 major users and 6 other users, will greatly expand our research abilities in the fields of biochemistry, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, materials science, nanotechnology and bioengineering, as well as provide our students hands-on access to advanced biochemical analysis techniques through lab courses. In addition to supporting research and education within San José State University (SJSU), this instrument will also support external users from Santa Clara University. The research labs supported by this grant have received various external funding from federal agencies such as NIH and NSF and have published extensively in peer- reviewed journals in their respective fields. The laboratory course supported by this application serves senior biochemistry students at SJSU. This instrument will greatly expand the research capacity of our users by providing higher efficiency and sensitivity in current areas of research as well as introducing new research abilities that were not possible before. The institution currently houses a CD instrument that is >20 years old and has been discontinued. The new CD instrument will have a vast improvement in sensitivity and efficiency, enabling researchers to characterize the structure, stability, and ligand interactions of proteins and peptides with much higher throughput and obtain more detailed information. More importantly, the near IR wavelength extension to 1,600 nm and the addition of the magnetic CD add-on will allow for the characterization of non-biomolecules, such as chiral small molecule ligands, stable radicals, and metal centers in organometallic complexes, experiments that were not previously possible at our institution. In addition, this instrument will support a capstone lab course where senior biochemistry students will now have the chance to structurally characterize their proteins in a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) project. This hands-on experience will help prepare students for future careers in academia and industry.
