Biacore 8K+ High Throughput SPR System

Georgetown University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT Biacore instruments are the state-of-the-art label-free detection platforms of biomolecular interactions. These instruments utilize surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology and can be used to investigate protein- protein, protein-small molecule (SM), and protein-nucleic acid interactions as well as effect of SMs in protein- protein and protein-nucleic acid interactions. In 2006, a Biacore T100 instrument was purchased with a successful shared instrument grant that allowed the establishment of Biacore Molecular Interaction Shared resource (BMISR) in the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC) of School of Medicine at Georgetown University. The instrument was then upgraded to Biacore T200 with institutional funds in 2012. The success of this shared resource has been reflected by 59 publications since its establishment with SPR data generated by BMISR as well as 22 federally funded research proposals with over $25,000,000 direct cost in total. The potential of SPR is evident by a discovery that led to a lead compound which was advanced to a Phase 2 clinical trial for patients with recurrent Ewing sarcoma. Since demand for use of SPR instrument was increasing and the existing Biacore T200 instrument was mostly running at its full capacity and this T200 instrument was not suitable for SPR experiments that involve several targets and thousands of SMs, we acquired a Biacore 4000 instrument with the second successful S10 grant proposal, to complement existing Biacore T200 to handle large SPR experiments, including screening of SMs. We were notified that Cytiva will stop servicing Biacore 4000 instruments on August 31, 2024, which would mean that we will not be able to use Biacore 4000 soon after that date because the Biacore 4000 requires continuous maintenance performed by Cytiva engineers to be fully operational. Therefore, we would like to acquire a Biacore 8K+ instrument to continue providing the same level of SPR service to Georgetown University and the scientific community. Biacore 8K+ is built on the same SPR technology and is highly efficient in running large drug screening experiments and other relatively complex SPR studies that involve multiple targets on the same chip. Biacore 8K+ can perform up to eight times faster than existing Biacore T200 instrument. In the absence of Biacore 4000, the Biacore 8K+ instrument will overcome the shortfall and allow us to continue being an excellent shared resource for this technology. In addition, BMISR is an active partner of the Mid-Atlantic Shared Resources Consortium (MSRC). This consortium includes Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, University of Virginia, and Medical University of South Carolina. Therefore, the new Biacore 8K+ will not only serve Georgetown University researchers but also support other MSRC researchers in efficiently advancing multiple federally funded research projects, including NIH funded projects.