Structural Biology and Biophysics
Molecular interactions, which can involve proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates or lipids, are the mainstay of any cellular process. Structural Biology and Biophysical research provides essential insights into how biological systems work, from single molecules, to cells and whole organisms. Structural biology and biophysics experiments are essential to the discovery of new therapeutics, providing the first key step in the process of drug design and development.
Our Facilities offer a wide-ranging platform of different state-of-the-art technologies and expertise to study the huge variety of biological systems, and to cross-validate the results obtained.
School-based Facilities include:
- Biophysics Facility at the Department of Biochemistry
- Biomolecular Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Facility at the Department of Biochemistry
- Cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) Facility at the Department of Biochemistry
- X-ray Crystallography Facility at the Department of Biochemistry
Biophysics Facility at the Department of Biochemistry
Equipment and techniques
- Surface plasmon resonance
- Isothermal titration calorimetry
- Biolayer interferometry
- Analytical ultracentrifugation
- Circular dichroism
- Dynamic scanning fluorimetry
- Stopped-flow kinetics
- Dynamic light scattering
- SEC-MALS
- Optical tweezers with fluorescence confocal microscopy
Location
The facility is based in the Department of Biochemistry (see map)
Contact
Biophysics Facility Manager: Katherine Stott
Email: Katherine Stott
Access and Training
The Biophysics facility is open to all members of the University, external academic institutions and industry. In house training is provided.
Biomolecular Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Facility at the Department of Biochemistry
Equipment
- NMR spectrometers of varying field strengths (800, 600, 500 MHz)
- Nuclei: 1H, 13C, 15N, 19F, 31P
Location
The facility is based in the Department of Biochemistry (see map)
Contact
NMR Facility Manager: Daniel Nietlispach
Access and Training
The NMR facility is open to all members of the University. External users can contact the Facility to apply. In house training is provided.
Cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) Facility at the Department of Biochemistry
Equipment and services
- Titan Krios 300 kV electron microscope
- Talos Arctica 200 kV electron microscope
- Vitrobot grids preparation
Location
The facility is based in the Department of Biochemistry (see map)
Contact
Cryo-EM Facility Manager: Dima Chirgadze
Email: Dima Chirgadze
Access and Training
The Cryo-EM facility is open to all members of the University, external academic institutions and industry. In house training is provided.
X-ray Crystallography Facility at the Department of Biochemistry
Techniques
- High throughput crystallography
- Fragment screening
- Inhibitor screening
- Structural biology
Equipment
- Rock Imager 1000 (formulatrix)
- Mosquito (spt labtech)
- Dragonfly (spt labtech)
Location
The facility is based in the Department of Biochemistry (see map)
Contact
X-ray Crystallography Facility Manager: Paul Brear
Email: Paul Brear
Access and Training
The X-ray Crystallography facility is open to all members of the University, external academic institutions and industry. In house training is provided.