$4 million to aid understanding of cells
Caltech is
the birthplace of structural biology, which was invented by Linus Pauling
in the 1940s. Unwilling to rest on its laurels, the Institute will seek
out new frontiers in the field with the help of a $4 million grant from
the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The grant will be used to create
a state-of-the-art cryoelectron microscopy laboratory.
Structural
biology research at Caltech continues today in the Pauling tradition,
using information obtained from high-resolution structures to understand
the molecular basis of biological processes.
“Caltech is committed to making every effort to give our faculty the tools they need to be productive,” says Caltech president David Baltimore. “This equipment will enable our researchers to push beyond current understandings of intra-cellular activity to gain a more complete understanding of the life cycle of a cell, which is critical to understanding intercellular dynamics and larger organic systems.”
The future
of structural biology lies in bridging the microscopic resolution between
the atomic scale (accessible through X-ray crystallography and nuclear
magnetic resonance spectroscopy) and the domain above 0.5 microns that
is accessible via optical microscopy.
Through cryoelectron
microscopes, the tiny “specks” that make up a cell’s machinery
for manipulating DNA, mak-ing protein molecules, and interacting with
the outside world come into focus. While the field has been around for
more than two decades, today’s cryoelectron microscopy and its computational
methods are undergoing a revolution that allows new sorts of analyses
and much-higher-resolution images, bordering on the low-resolution limits
of X-ray crystallographic structures.
With the
grant, Caltech will be able to purchase two cryoelectron microscopes capable
of imaging biological material in an essentially native state. The first
cools the sample material to liquid-nitrogen temperatures and will be
used for rapid specimen screening. The second cools the samples to liquid-helium
temperatures (near absolute zero), and is in several respects a true prototype
expected to deliver images of a higher resolution than has ever before
been obtainable.
One of the
key microscope users will be Assistant Professor of Biology Grant Jensen,
whose goal is to extend traditional structural biology to a cellular level
in order to allow realistic computer simulations of whole cells in the
future. This work can be thought of as a logical next step after sequencing
genomes because it aims to reveal how the various gene products come together
to form protein “machines,” and how those machines arrange themselves
into the biochemical “assembly lines” that create life.
Formed in
2000 by Gordon and Betty Moore, the Moore Foundation aims to improve the
quality of life for future generations. Gordon Moore received his PhD
in chemistry from Caltech in 1954 and later founded the Intel Corporation.
The foundation focuses on higher education, scientific research, the environment,
and select San Francisco Bay–area projects. Its largest commitment
to date has been a pledge to Caltech of $300 million, of which this grant
is a portion.
•
