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Center for Structural Biology

Biophysical Instrumentation Facility

Find us in iLab

The Biophysical Instrumentation Facility and the Megalab Core have been combined to form the new Vanderbilt Center for Structural Biology Labs and Instrumentation Facility in iLab. The Biomolecular Crystallography Facility will be added in September 2024.

The CSB maintains a variety of instruments for studying the conformation and stability of macromolecules and for measuring the affinity and thermodynamics of biomolecular interactions. To set up core access and training, contact Noah Saracho. If you have additional questions or would like to set up a consultation, contact Heather Kroh.

 

Octet R8 Bio-layer Interferometer:

  • Sartorius Octet R8
  • High-quality quantitative, kinetic, or affinity characterization of biomolecules
  • Can run up to 96 samples in a single experiment
  • Installed in January 2023
Mass Photometer:

  • Reyfeyn TwoMP Mass Photometer
  • Measure molecular mass of proteins &
    protein assemblies in solution in their native state
  • Quick and accurate mass determination with minimal sample requirements (<20 µL, low nanomolar concentrations)
  • Installed in January 2023
Stopped-Flow Spectrometer:

  • Kintek SF300X Stopped-flow Spectrometer
  • Measures changes in absorbance and/or fluorescence signals for kinetic and equilibrium titration experiments
  • Minimal first reaction time of 5 millisecond, with a sub-millisecond dead time
  • Computer-controlled servo motor (not air-driven)
  • Capacity for single- and double-mixing experiments
Circular Dichroism Spectropolarimeter:

  • Chirascan VX CD spectrometer
  • User friendly data acquisition and analysis
  • Peltier temperature control
  • Installed December 2022
  • CD Guidelines
Microscale thermophoresis:

  • NanoTemper Monolith NT.115
  • Determine binding affinities using fluorescently labeled ligands
  • Equipped with two LED lasers, blue and red
  • MST Guidelines
Tycho Sample Quality Check:

  • Nanotemper Tycho NT.6
  • Verify protein quality, stability and reproducibility, with minimal volume needed (10 µL)
  • Measures intrinsic fluorescence of tryptophan and tyrosine residues
  • Can detect impurities, compare concentrations, and screen storage conditions
Differential Scanning Calorimeter:

 

 DSC
Dynamic Light Scattering:

 

 DLS
Isothermal Titration Calorimeter:

  • TA Instruments Affinity ITC
  • Installed in February 2020
  • Injection Syringe Volume up to 250 µL
  • Active cell volume of 1.0 mL
  • Operating Temperature Range from 2 °C to 80 °C
  • Fully automated Injection Syringe Cleaning
  • ITC Notes

Information for Users: