Bioanalytical Resource Facility
The BCMB department has access to a large collection of instrumentation for biophysical and biochemical characterization of proteins and nucleic acids under the heading of the Bioanalytical Resources Facility (BRF). This facility operates as a recharge center recovering the cost of maintenance and consumables required for instrument operation.
The facility, located in Mossman 342/348 and is managed by Ed Wright. Please contact Ed at (edwright@utk.edu) for training and scheduling.
The instruments available include:
Analytical Ultracentrifuge (AUC) A Beckman XL-I is available to measure size and shape information about proteins, nucleic acids and other polymers. Common experiments include determination of stoichiometry and affinity of macromolecular complexes and analysis of the heterogeneity of sample preparations.
Circular Dichroism (CD) An Aviv 202 CD spectrophotometer available for basic CD experiments including secondary structure analysis and stability of proteins.
Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) A VP-DSC is available to measure protein stability and energetics of unfolding and folding.
Fluorescence Spectroscopy A Perkin Elmer LS 55 is available for single cuvette fluorescence measurements.
Protein Chromatography Two Bio-Rad NGC chromatography systems are available for preparative and analytical protein separations.
High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) An Agilent 1200 system is available for separation and analysis of peptides, nucleic acids and small molecules.
Isothermal Titration Calorimeters (ITC) Two VP-ITC instruments are available for measurement of affinity and thermodynamic parameters of biomolecular interactions. A TA instruments nanoITC small volume calorimeter is also available for use.
MALDI A Bruker Microflex is available for mass measurements of proteins, peptides and other polymers.
Mass Photometer The Refeyn One Mass Photometry instrument (refeyn.com) allows label-free mass determination with single-molecule resolution. MP can be used for proteins, nucleic acids, nanoparticles, viruses, and their complexes. Applications include studies of oligomerization, biomolecular interactions, and characterization of macromolecular assemblies.
Tapestation An Agilent 4200 Tapestation is available for determination of size, quantity and quality of DNA and RNA samples.
Cell Sorter The Sony MA900 is a multilaser flow cytometer and cell sorter is capable of 4-way and multi-well plate sorting. https://www.sonybiotechnology.com/us/instruments/ma900-multi-application-cell-sorter/
Prices
| Service Price ($/hr) | UT Users | Non-UT Academic | Commercial |
| AUC | 13.00 | 20.00 | 20.00 |
| Circular Dichroism | 5.00 | 8.00 | 8.00 |
| DSC | 2.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Fluorescence | 3.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 |
| Protein Chromatography | 2.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| HPLC | 2.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| ITC | 2.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| MALDI | 11.00 | 17.00 | 17.00 |
| Mass Photometer | 10.00 | 15.00 | 15.00 |
| Tapestation S* | 5.00 | 8.00 | 8.00 |
| Tapestation HS* | 6.00 | 9.00 | 9.00 |
| Cell Sorter | 22.00 | 34.00 | 34.00 |