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NIH Project Attacks Chemical Snag
Restraining Protein Research
L. Scott Rodkey, Ph.D., will use his patented techniques to overcome an obstacle to protein analysis.
Photo by Scott Merville
A nettlesome chemical flaw that hinders scientists trying to identify and analyze proteins will be addressed by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grant employing technology developed at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.
Professor of Pathology L. Scott Rodkey, Ph.D., has received a $441,000 three-year grant from the NIH National Center for Research Resources to synthesize chemicals that are crucial to one of the most common laboratory techniques in proteomics – the study of proteins, the workhorses of cell biology.
“This project has the potential to have a very significant impact on the whole spectrum of biomedical research,” said Rodkey, who also is on the faculty of the UT Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston. “The technology involved is fundamental to any proteomics application at a very basic level.”
The program will apply patented techniques developed by Rodkey to synthesize the specialty chemicals used in the basic laboratory technique of 2D electrophoresis. “One of the very first analytical techniques everyone uses in proteomics research is 2D electrophoresis,” Rodkey said.
Specialty chemicals used in 2D electrophoresis, known as ampholytes, are currently manufactured in such a manner that they vary in composition from lot to lot. In order to ensure accuracy and reproducibility of 2D electrophoresis experiments, researchers are forced to re-standardize their operating protocols, as well as re-adjust some computer analysis parameters every time a new batch of ampholytes is used.
By capitalizing on a discovery made by private sector collaborators and applying three of his own patented techniques, Rodkey hopes to solve that problem.
Ampholytes vary in composition because the chemical building blocks used to make them vary greatly in purity. These chemicals, known as polyamines, are manufactured in bulk mainly for industrial use – in the production of asphalt, for example. For such uses, a high degree of purity is unnecessary, Rodkey said, and it is uneconomical for manufacturers to make polyamines at near 100 percent purity.
Scientists at one manufacturer, Huntsman LLC in Austin, have figured out a way to make polyamines more than 95 percent pure and shared that method with Rodkey.
“We are going to take Huntsman’s process and purify polyamines,” Rodkey said. Rodkey will then take the superior raw material and use it in two of his patented methods for making ampholytes. The result is expected to be consistent, high-quality ampholytes.
A third patented technique that evaluates and quantifies chemical differences in batches of ampholytes will be used to analyze the results. This quality control technique is a unique advantage, Rodkey said, and will provide clear evidence of levels of chemical consistency.
“This project is a good example of a commercial entity like Huntsman collaborating with an academic researcher to solve a practical problem,” Rodkey said.
Rodkey and the UT Health Science Center at Houston are co-founders of Ampholife Technologies Inc. (ATI), which was founded as a Texas corporation through the efforts of Rodkey and the health science center’s Office of Technology Management. To date, the university has received three patents for the chemical preparation methods, all of which are exclusively licensed to ATI.
— By Scott Merville, Public Affairs