Surface Plasmon Resonance - SPR – Biacore T100
Surface plasmon resonance, a phenomenon happening when light gets reflected on very thin metal films, is used to investigate protein:protein and protein:ligand interactions. On the backside of the metallic film one protein or ligand can be localized. If a ligand (protein, small molecule) in a mobile phase interacts with the immobilized protein the local reflective index of the gold surface changes. These changes can be detected in real time and are summarized in a sensorgram. The SPR rates can be translated in association rates for the protein:protein or protein:ligand interaction.
The Biacore T-100 instrument enables the rapid determination of binding constants, binding kinetics and thermodynamic parameters of the binding events. Critically, very small quantities of proteins are used for these studies.
