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Biacore 3000
Surface Plasmon Resonance Spectrometer
Biotechnology Building
Room 4327
 Policy for Research Access
Faculty in Charge:
Robert Linhardt
Fuming Zhang
Operators/Trainers:
Fuming Zhang
Eva Munoz
Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is a powerful technique used to measure biomolecular interactions in real-time in a label-free environment. One of the interactants is immobilized to the sensor surface and the others are free in solution and passed over the surface. Association and dissociation kinetics are measured in arbitrary units and displayed in a graph called the sensorgram.
The Biacore 3000 instrument is equipped with a continuous flow system in which four channels are coupled in series. An automatic sample needle delivers buffer and sample to the sensor chip surface. The continuous flow ensures that no changes in analyte concentration occur during the measurement. Constant free analyte concentration is particularly important for the determination of kinetic parameters. By using one of the flow channels as an in-line reference, a perfect control is obtained on the same sample aliquot, eliminating the variations, which occur with separate reference and sample measurements.
Direct binding of non-labeled components can be monitored in samples ranging from small organic compounds and peptides to eucaryotic cells. Sensitivity depends on many factors, such as the chosen methodology, the molecular weight and the affinity of the interactants. Very low analyte concentrations down to the picomolar range can be handled with confidence. Non-specific binding and protein denaturation are both minimized by the use of biocompatible materials with low surface adsorption properties.
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