PC

Available Instruments

VP ITC, MicroCal - Isothermal Titration Calorimetry, study of biomolecular interactions in solution
PEAQ-ITC, MicroCal - Isothermal Titration Calorimetry, study of biomolecular interactions in solution
Monolith NT.115 (Microscale thermophoresis), NanoTemper - measuring binding affinities (labelling of 1 partner required)
Monolith NT. Label-free (Microscale thermophoresis), NanoTemper - measuring binding affinities (label-free)
DLS Nanostar (Dynamic light scattering), Malvern - particle size measurements. Addressing dispersity/ aggregational state of samples.
Biacore T200, GE - SPR, interaction of biomolecules and kinetics
CD (Circular Dichroism), Applied Photophysics - Secondary structure analysis.
Prometheus NT.48 with backscattering optics (nano-Differential Scanning Fluorimetry technology), NanoTemper - study protein stability and protein aggregation.
FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer) Bruker - Protein spectrum. Analysing protein signals from formulation components.
MALDI TOF, Bruker/CovalX - Determination of the molecular mass of protein samples and peptides resulting from proteolytic digestions. CovalX HM4 High-Mass System enables protein complex analysis and intact protein analysis.
Octet RED96 System, PAL ForteBio - 96-well characterization of protein-protein and protein-small molecule binding kinetics, determination of protein concentrations.
SPARK 20M Plate reader, TECAN - Detection Absorbance, Fluorescence intensity, FP, TRF, FRET, TR-FRET, luminescence (flash, glow, multi-colour), Alpha Technology, Automated live cell imaging
Stopped-Flow, Applied Photophysics - Time resolved experiments

Services

We support users with the design, execution and data analysis of biophysical experiments aimed at the characterization of proteins, protein complexes and interactions between proteins and other types of molecules.

The PC facility offers a variety of services related to protein characterization:

Quality control for structural studies
MS intact mass
Protein-protein interaction

Further information

Our protein characterization platform located at the CSSB includes several biophysical instruments available for in-house and external users. We offer services for protein quality control in addition to characterization techniques for studying the interaction of biomolecules. Techniques available: MS MALDI coupled to a high mass detector, Thermofluor (TF), Circular Dichroism (CD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC), nano Differential Scanning Fluorimetry (nDSF), Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), Biolayer interferometry (Octet), Microscale Thermophoresis (MST) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS).

Access to the PC services and resources

The PC facility is a fee-for-service (non-profit) technology platform operated by EMBL in Hamburg. No service fees are charged for usage of this equipment by EMBL, CSSB and beamline users. An online system (iLAB) to streamline the process of booking instruments, ordering and billing core service requests is in place and in routine use.

All users must follow a safety training before working in our laboratories. Complete the SPC safety briefing and examination before your visit though SMIS. Please go to the Safety tab and select "Standard Training"

Our acknowledgement policy

Please acknowledge any substantial contributions of the SPC Facility to your research in publications. Please state the following in the acknowledgement section of your publication: “We acknowledge technical support by the SPC facility at EMBL Hamburg”.

Please don't forget to let us know when you publish papers that acknowledge us. This will help us keep track and to justify the existence of the facility to funding bodies.