{"id":18880,"date":"2010-08-12T08:19:26","date_gmt":"2010-08-12T12:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=18880"},"modified":"2011-05-31T12:40:03","modified_gmt":"2011-05-31T16:40:03","slug":"giant-magnet-installed-%e2%80%a6-through-the-roof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2010\/08\/giant-magnet-installed-%e2%80%a6-through-the-roof\/","title":{"rendered":"Giant Magnet Installed \u2026 Through the Roof"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"<p>Crane<\/a>
Crane operators prepare to hoist a four-ton magnet, the primary component of UConn's new 800 MHz NMR spectrometer. Photo by Mark Maciejewski<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A sophisticated imaging machine \u2013 known as an 800 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer \u2013 is now in place in the Gregory P. Mullen NMR Structural Biology Facility in the Health Center\u2019s sub-basement.<\/p>\n

Almost as challenging as securing the $2 million National Institutes of Health grant<\/a> for the new NMR spectrometer was the task of getting its primary component into the building.<\/p>\n

The machine\u2019s four-ton magnet wouldn\u2019t fit in any of the elevators that reach the sub-basement, so Campus Planning staff, engineers from the magnet\u2019s manufacturer, and rigging contractors had to lower it down an air shaft with a giant crane one morning in late July.<\/p>\n

NMR is an imaging technique that enables researchers to study the structure, function, and dynamics of proteins.<\/p>\n

\n

\"<p>A<\/a>
The crew positions the magnet to be lowered into the air shaft. Photo by Mark Maciejewski <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Knowing the three-dimensional structures of proteins is essential for understanding their biological function, and is invaluable for indentifying lead compounds as drug candidates,” says Jeffrey Hoch<\/a>, professor of molecular, microbial and structural biology and principal investigator on the grant that made the acquisition possible.<\/p>\n

Once it\u2019s operational \u2013 likely before the end of the summer \u2013 the new machine will be the University\u2019s most powerful NMR spectrometer among the four at the Health Center and three in Storrs. It\u2019s one of fewer than 50 instruments of its caliber in use at academic institutions in the United States.<\/p>\n

“The proteins that will be studied using the new instrument are involved in viral and bacterial infection, cancer, neural development, and other biological pathways important for both health and disease,” Hoch says.<\/p>\n

In preparation for the installation of the new spectrometer, the Mullen NMR Facility underwent nearly $1 million in renovations.<\/p>\n

\"<p>The<\/a>
The unit is moved into position in the lab in the Mullen NMR Structural Biology Facility at the Health Center. Photo by Tom Wisehart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting the main component of an NMR spectrometer into the Health Center building was a challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[57,2010],"class_list":["post-18880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-20 18:28:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18880"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37093,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18880\/revisions\/37093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18880"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=18880"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=18880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}