“State-of-the-art” Detection Instrumentation

• The Perkin Elmer Operetta cellular high-content imaging system: This system is a widefield and fluorescence microscope with confocal capability and excitation/emission filters to detect fluorophores ranging from UV to far-red in an environmentally-controlled chamber, robotically interfaced with a Liconic Cell incubator to allow for fully-automated live-cell experiments.
• Multimode detection systems include the Perkin Elmer EnVision and BMG Labtech Pherastar FS plate readers that can measure fluorescence intensity, fluorescence polarization, time resolved fluorescence, TR-FRET, AlphaScreen and luminescence, and feature onboard reagent injectors for precise kinetic experiments.
• The Molecular Devices FLIPR® Penta System is an HTS system for real-time kinetic cellular assays to monitor GPCRs and ion channels using both fluorescent and luminescent-based technologies. It is well suited to evaluating the toxicity of chemical compounds using organoids and stem cell-derived neuronal and cardiac cells.
• A Biacore T100 Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) instrument with T200 enhanced sensitivity from GE: SPR is a sensitive spectroscopic tool for studying molecular interactions in a label-free state. The system detects binding in real-time by measuring mass changes of a target immobilized on a chip upon analyte binding. It measures dissociation constant (KD), association rate constant (Kon or Ka), and dissociation rate constant (Koff or Kd) and thus provides kinetic parameters. SPR is broadly compatible the analysis of proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and small molecules.
• The Creoptix® WAVEdelta system: The WAVEdelta system uses the Grating-Coupled Interferometry (GCI) technology to measure ligand binding and binding kinetics as SPR but provides higher throughput, sensitivity, and signal-to-noise ratio than SPR. As such, it is considered a next generation bioanalytical instrument for drug discovery and life science research.
• Nanotemper Monolith Microscale Thermophoresis NT: This is an automated system shared with the Greehey Children Cancer Research Institute Target Identification Facility, which can perform in-solution assays to measure binding affinities of protein-protein, protein-DNA/RNA or protein-drug interactions.