COBRE for the Center for Molecular Medicine - Protein Core

This COBRE Phase III proposal is aimed at sustaining and transitioning to independence the research infrastructure developed during the Phases I and II of COBRE funding. Our COBRE on the Molecular Basis of Human Disease and the Center for Molecular Medicine has had a number of successes. During the previous funding period 30 junior faculty from 12 different departments and centers were mentored. The mentored junior faculty received 30 NIH RO1 grants, 5 other NIH grants, and 30 peer-reviewed extramural grants. The members of the Center published more than 370 research papers. The Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, in which the COBRE is housed, rose from 28th to its current position of 14th in NIH rankings in terms of Public Medical School Biochemistry Departments, and 28th overall during the tenure of the COBRE. Research funding more than doubled over this period excluding monies from the COBRE grant. These and other successes can in large part be attributed to the availability of the scientific cores associated with the COBRE. For this application, we propose to transition three scientific cores to independence of NIH/NIGMS support and to enhance and upgrade core technologies. It is worth noting that two of our original cores have or soon will transition to independence; the Proteomics core developed by this COBRE is now a University run fee-for-service core, and the COBRE supported Microscopy core is soon to become a department supported core. During the proposed five-year transition period we will increase the competitiveness of our cores so as to attract greater usage and cost recovery. Through the use of vouchers we will promote core usage. Through pilot grants we will develop new research collaborations and competitive grant submissions and broaden our outreach. The Administrative Core will serve as the focal point of the grant and in conjunction with the Program Coordinator and the Oversight Committee will serve as the operational arm of the Center. An External Advisory Committee, consisting of world-renown scientists will provide ongoing assessment and evaluation of the Center. Continuing Institutional commitments will ensure programmatic growth, and long-term sustainability The COBRE supported Protein Core of the University of Kentucky (UK) Center for Molecular Medicine facilitates recombinant protein production and characterization of macromolecules. The Core makes available well-maintained equipment and instrumentation that would not normally be found within individual laboratories. The mission of the Protein Core is to provide training and access to its facilities for the research community. Projects are also undertaken on a service basis. The Core Director, Dr. Louis Hersh, has worked to enhance and expand protein chemistry and structural biology at UK. The Core provides fermentors, bioreactors, tissue culture facilities, cell cracking equipment, and chromatography instrumentation for production and purification of recombinant proteins. In addition, instrumentation for characterizing macromolecules, including dynamic light scattering, spectropolarimetry, fluorescence, isothermal titration calorimetry, high performance liquid chromatography, X-ray crystallography and analytical ultracentrifugation is available. A full time staff member maintains the core equipment, provides training to new users, works with researchers to make the best use of the instrumentation, and helps to oversees scheduling. The overall goal of the Protein Core is to promote and assist investigators in utilizing protein chemistry in their research with proteins of biological and biomedical importance.