Nuclear Magnetic
Resonance (NMR) Shared Facility
Director: N. Rama
Department/Center Association: Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics/Comprehensive Cancer Center
Established: 1972
The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Shared Facility provides state-of-the-art high-resolution NMR instrumentation and scientific expertise in the form of service, consultation, advice, and collaboration to UAB faculty members interested in the NMR spectroscopic investigation of biologically significant molecules.
Facility Description
Conveniently located in the heart
of the Medical Center in the UAB Community Health Services Building-19th (on
NMR Instrumentation currently includes the following:
1) State-of-the-Art Bruker AVANCE 600 System (600 MHz) equipped with an Avance Console, BOSS-2 orthogonal shim system (28 shim gradients), and four RF channels; four amplifiers (1H,19F, 50 Watts; two X- nucleus BB, 300 watts; 2HTX deuterium amplifier 20 watts); a triple resonance TXI 1H {13C, 15N} probe with X, Y, Z gradients; a triple resonance TBI 1H {13C, C, tunable from 109Ag to 31P} with X, Y, Z gradients; a 3 X 64 Kword waveform memory and 1 X 256 Kword waveform memory; a digital Lock with 2H Lock switch unit; a digital Router; digital quadrature detection; a digital Filter; a digital variable temperature control accessory with BVT-3000, BCU-05, and 2 X BTO-2000 thermocouple stabilization units; a 16 bit ADC (2 MHz sampling rate); B0 gradient electronics for X, Y, Z gradients Acustar, digital pre-emphasis, and 3 X 10 amps (506/cm on Z and 40 G/cm on X and Y); a SG O2 (R5000 SC) workstation with 4 GB disk, 64 MB memory, CDROM, and 17" monitor; and XWINNMR, XWINPLOT, ICON-NMR, NMR-Check, and NMR-SIM. A 600 MHz CryoProbe is being installed to enhance the sensitivity of detection by 400%.
2) State-of-the-Art Bruker AVANCE 500 System (500 MHz) has an Avance 500 Console with BOSS-2 orthogonal shim system (28 shim gradients) and three RF channels; three amplifiers (1H, 19F, 50 Watts; two X-nucleus BB, 300 watts); triple resonance TXI 1H {13C, 15N} probe X, Y, Z gradients; and a triple resonance TBI probe with Z-gradient, with remaining configuration similar to the Bruker AVANCE 600 system.
Computing Facilities include
a number of resources. A Silicon
Graphics O2 (R12000) workstation is available to facility users for NMR data
processing. Users also have access to
three SGI work stations (a SGI Indigo Workstation, an Indigo XS24 Workstation,
and an Indigo 2 Workstation) in Dr. Krishna's laboratory for a nominal fee. The software packages available to users
include NMRPIPES and XEASY for nD-NMR data processing and INSIGHT-II (Accelrys,
Additional NMR Support Resources include a wet laboratory with fume hood equipped for chemical and physiochemical studies and a biological laboratory equipped for enzymology, chromatography, tissue culture, etc.
Research Information
The NMR Facility conducts Biomolecular NMR Spectroscopy Measurements (including state-of-the-art 2D/3D/4D-NMR measurements) related to the 3-dimensional structural determinations of proteins, lipoproteins, peptides, nucleic acids, drug-DNA complexes, complex carbohydrates, and protein-ligand complexes; routine NMR for synthetic chemistry and medicinal chemistry projects; screening of compound libraries by STD-NMR to identify lead compounds specific to target proteins of interest; structure-based drug design; and binding constant determinations and reaction kinetics. In Vitro NMR Spectroscopy Measurements can be carried out with tissue samples and cell suspensions to identify metabolites. Consulting and collaboration are available on experimental design, analysis, and interpretation of data. Assistance with detailed assignments of NMR spectra and structural calculations is available on a collaborative basis, if requested by the user. NMR-trained faculty members, as well as students and staff from any user’s research group, can run their own experiments on the NMR systems under the supervision of the NMR staff.
The Facility Director periodically teaches two graduate level courses (BMG-760, Protein NMR Spectroscopy and BMG-703, Protein NMR Laboratory Course) through the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and arranges for periodic seminars by distinguished scholars in the general area of protein NMR spectroscopy.
Service Charges and Method
The NMR Shared Facility is available to all faculty members on the UAB campus. The user fees vary depending upon the nature and complexity of the NMR research project and are calculated based on hours of instrument usage and the degree of staff assistance requested by the user. Invoices are distributed on a monthly basis and may be paid by internal requisition. Prospective users should request a planning meeting with the Facility Director and either the Manager or the Engineer to discuss experimental design, level of NMR staff support, and estimated charges.
Contact Information
Director: N. Rama
Email: nrk@uab.edu
Phone: 205-934-5695
Manager: Ronald Shin, PhD
Email: shinr@uab.edu
Phone: 205-934-5696
Engineer: Simon Sham, PhD
Email: ssham44@uab.edu
Phone: 205-934-5696
Web Site: http://www3.ccc.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=59561&site=3167&return=59372
Approved by: N. Rama
Date: February 26, 2008
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