Chelsea Biophysics Facility

The Biophysical equipment provided by the facility allows researchers a wide range of options for characterising their biological samples. This includes Mass Photometry, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Size Exclusion Chromatography Multi Angle Light Scattering (SEC-MALS) for characterising sample composition and Bio-Layer Interferometry (BLI) and Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) for characterising biological interactions.

Front of the ICR building in Chelsea, London

 

For more information, please contact the facility manager,  Dr Stephen Hearnshaw. 

Equipment:

  • Refeyn One Mass photometer
    • Mass photometry (MP) is a light scattering based technique that detects individual, unlabelled molecules in dilute solutions. MP can accurately measure molecular masses in the 40 kDa to 5 MDa range and provides information on the relative abundance of species by molecular counting. The final result of the MP measurement is a molecular mass distribution reflecting the molecular composition of the sample.

 

  • Octet N1 Bio-Layer Interferometry (BLI) Instrument
    • The Octet N1 is a simple, fluidics-free biophysical instrument based on bio-layer interferometry (BLI) and enables sensitive, real-time, label-free assays for the analysis of protein-protein interactions. Both binding affinities (Kd) and kinetics (kon, koff) can be measured within minutes, using only 4 µL of sample. BLI also enables the label-free detection of proteins and their quantitation in complex mixtures, with a sensitivity on the order of ng/mL.

 

  • Wyatt SEC-MALS
    • Analytical size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), commonly used for the determination of the molecular weight of proteins and protein-protein complexes in solution, is a relative technique that relies on the elution volume of the analyte to estimate molecular weight. When the protein is not globular or undergoes non-ideal column interactions, the calibration curve based on protein standards is invalid, and the molecular weight determined from elution volume is incorrect. Multi-angle light scattering (MALS) is an absolute technique that determines the molecular weight of an analyte in solution from basic physical equations. The combination of SEC for separation with MALS for analysis constitutes a versatile, reliable means for characterizing solutions of one or more protein species including monomers, native oligomers or aggregates, and heterocomplexes. Since the measurement is performed at each elution volume, SEC-MALS can determine if an eluting peak is homogeneous or heterogeneous and distinguish between a fixed molecular weight distribution versus dynamic equilibrium. Analysis of modified proteins such as glycoproteins or lipoproteins, or conjugates such as detergent-solubilized membrane proteins, is also possible

 

  • XtalConcepts SpectroLight 610
    • SpectroLight 610 is a powerful desktop device capable of fully automated measurements of particle sizes via dynamic light scattering (DLS) in small volumes 0.08 - 2ml using 96 well format plates. These features make the SpectroLight 610 ideal for many laboratory applications such as sample quality or stability analysis and buffer screening. Besides DLS, the SpectroLight 610 provides a built-in microscope that can be used as a fully automated imaging system for rapid crystallisation plate imaging and protein crystal determination via the devices UV imaging capabilities.

 

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