Facility Details

The Biophysical Core maintains the following instruments:
(1) A Jasco J-715 spectropolarimeter for both near- and far-UV circular dichroism studies. The instrument contains a Peltier thermostated sample holder for thermal melts.

(2) MicroCal VP Capillary Differential Scanning Calorimeter. DSC measures the enthalpy (∆H) of unfolding due to heat denaturation. A biomolecule in solution is in equilibrium between the native (folded) conformation and its denatured (unfolded) state. The higher the thermal transition midpoint (Tm), when 50% of the biomolecules are unfolded, the more stable the molecule. DSC measures the change in heat capacity (ΔCp) of denaturation.

(3) Microcal Isothermal Titration Calorimeter to assist in calculating stochiometry, binding constant, enthalpy and entropy. The instrument includes an internal Peltier mechanism.

(4) Wyatt MiniDawn Triple-Angle Light Scattering Detector (MALS) for measuring the molecular weights, sizes, and conformations of macromolecules in solution.

(5) Voyager DE-pro MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometer for accurate determination molecular weights at subpicomolar range. The system is used for routine non-expert operation. It incorporates Delayed Extractionâ„¢ technology for excellent sensitivity, mass accuracy, and resolution.

(6) Hitachi F-2500 Spectrofluorometer which offers high sensitivity, variable spectral bandwidth and scanning speeds of up to 12,000nm/min. Its horizontal beam optical design provides a high concentrated light beam along with low sample volume requirements. It offers Excitation/Emission Scan, Time Based Measurements, Pre-Scan, and Data Export to Excel.