Most faculty research laboratories in the biochemistry program are located in Mortensen Hall. In addition to the equipment within individual laboratories, the following specialized equipment is available to biochemistry researchers.
Biomolecule structure and dynamics: Characterization of molecular properties is a central requirement for modern research within biochemistry. A wide-bore 500 MHz Bruker NMR spectrometer is shared with the radiobiology program. This versatile instrument is able to acquire MRI images for mice and collect NMR data necessary to determine the atomic structure of proteins. Probes are available that can be tuned to all NMR active nuclei normally encountered in biomedical research. Optical characterization of biological molecules structure or dynamics is also available using a Jasco J715 circular dichroism spectrometer or a Photon Technology International T-format spectrofluorometer.
Mass spectrometry: The ability to identify components of biological samples and to quantitate their concentrations with high sensitivity is provided by five mass spectrometers in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology. Two new Agilent GCMS systems have the 5973 MSD/6890N GC with automated sampler handling. An older Hewlett-Packard 5970 MSD/5890A GC is available for method development. A ThermoFinnigan LCQ Deca XP couples an electrospray-Ion trap instrument with HPLC. A Bruker Autoflex MALDI-TOF enables analysis of large proteins.
Computational Biochemistry and Bioinformatics: The integration of scientific disciplines is requiring the use of computational methods at all stages during a biomedical research project. The Computational Biology Facility is housed in Mortensen Hall provides single and dual processor computers running Microsoft Windows XP, SGI Irix 6.5, or Redhat Linux Workstation 3.1 operating systems. Bioinformatic analysis is readily accomplished using software tools either available online or by academic license. The Computational Biology Facility has a perpetual license to the molecular modeling package InsightII with the modules for predicting protein structure, computational drug design and evaluation, and general molecular modeling of biological macromolecules. The complete suite of OpenEye modeling software is available in the laboratory of Dr. Neidigh. Computational studies of small molecules using quantum mechanical calculations are available using Gaussian 03W.
Organic and biomolecule synthesis: The study of molecules or modifications of known molecules recently discovered within biological tissues requires resources to synthesize the target molecule in sufficient quantities for characterization. In addition to the chemical fume hoods and other equipment needed for traditional organic synthesis, synthesizers for the solid-phase synthesis of peptides and oligonucleotides are available in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Chromatography and purification: The Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology has two Waters HPLC systems equipped with UV diode array detectors and a Biotage flash chromatography system for the purification of organic and biomolecules. A FPLC is available for the purification of proteins. Additional purification equipment and supplies are available in the laboratories of individual researchers.
Cell Culture: Shared equipment for the culture of bacterial and mammalian cells in available in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology and includes lamellar flow culture hoods, incubators, and microscopes for viewing cells.
Last Revised: Mon, Oct 16, 2006
