Establishment/Evaulation of a Biomolecular NMR Structure Platform and Instrumentation Requirements for Biomolecular NMR

All molecules function through their three-dimensional structures as well as through their chemical properties. Understanding the mode of action of proteins and other biomolecules as well as optimal medical and biotechnological exploitation of these molec ules therefore relies to a large extent on insight into their three-dimensional structures. Knowledge of biomolecular structures is thus clearly an important element of post-genomic research. With this grant proposal, a group of structural chemists, bioch emists and molecular biologists at the Department of Chemistry and Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Oslo, apply for funding to establish and manage a FUGE platform (The University of Oslo Structural Biology Platform) dedicated to three-d imensional structural analysis of biomolecules. The platform shall function as a node of the national Norwegian Structural Biology Platform (NORSTRUCT). X-ray crystallography and NMR-spectroscopy stand out as the most widely used techniques for detailed three-dimensional characterization of molecular structures. The two techniques complement each other and it is clearly important that both are included in the platform. It is also important that facilities for large-scale production and purification of p roteins are included, because the availability of proteins in quantities and purities required for structural studies is generally a bottleneck in structure/function analysis of proteins. The platform thus consists of three core facility laboratories: An X-ray Crystallography Core Facility Laboratory, an NMR Core Facility Laboratory and a Protein Production Core Facility Laboratory. The aim of the platform is to (i) provide assistance in large-scale production and purification of proteins for structural studies and to (ii) make methods for structure determination of biomolecules available to the biomedical and biological communities in the Oslo region.