Biacore 3000

University Of Texas Hlth Ctr At Tyler, Tyler TX

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): A Biacore 3000 instrument is being requested for The University of Texas Health Center at Tyler. The Health Center currently has one shared Biacore X instrument available to 30 investigators (12 NIH grants). Many of these projects can benefit from surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology. The available Biacore X instrument has proven to be an excellent instrument for screening potential interactions between molecules of interest and for performing preliminary experiments using surface plasmon resonance. However, this instrument is not capable of detecting binding of small molecules (<2,000 Da) and it is not automated, requiring each sample to be loaded manually. This makes routine use of the instrument for analysis of multiple samples very tedious and time consuming. In addition, the requirement for manual loading of individual samples makes the Biacore X susceptible to variable injection artifacts during kinetic experiments. Because of these limitations with the Biacore X, our ability to perform detailed kinetic analyses of on- and off-rates are currently severely limited in scope, and the newer state-of-the-art technology of the Biacore 3000 is required. The Biacore 3000 is capable of accurately measuring the binding kinetics of small molecules (>200 Da), and its fully automated, multi-channel system configuration allows the simultaneous measurement of the SPR signals in multiple flow cells. This system also included online signal subtraction for real-time subtraction of nonspecific binding and refractive index changes in a control channel. This is a major improvement in technology over the existing Biacore X instrument and will facilitate numerous NIH-funded projects. The Biacore 3000 will be fully supported with a Biacore. Service and maintenance contract and will be networked to the existing instrumentation within the facility. The Biacore package includes the Biacore 3000 instrument, a complete computer system (CPU, monitor, printer) for instrument control a well as data collecting, handling and analysis, a two day training course, assorted system accessories, and a follow-up consultation.