Cutting edge crystallography equipment and expertise
The Institute for Glycomics has dedicated facilities and equipment for crystallography studies that enable our scientists to better understand the three-dimensional structure of molecules found on the surface of microorganisms and their hosts. Understanding the three-dimensional structure aids in better drug design and vaccine development.
Equipment
Zetasizers are used to measure size, weight and dispersion of proteins and other molecules in a solution. The Zetasizer determines the size by using dynamic light scattering (DLS) to measure the Brownian movement of particles or molecules in a solvent or buffer. This diffusion speed is then converted into a size distribution using the Stokes-Einstein relationship. Similarly, the instrument uses static light scattering to determine the molecular weight and electrophoresis to measure the zeta potential of dispersions and surfaces.
The NT8 Drop Setter is a liquid handling robot that is capable of dispensing very small drops ranging from 10 nanolitres to 1.5 microliters. This allows researchers to set up arrays of seeding experiments for crystallization studies. In addition to the NT8 Drop Setter, the facility also has access to a Hamilton Starlet liquid handling platform.
This spectrophotometer allows for the simultaneous collection of different data sets (including circular dichroism and thermodynamic data) that can be analysed by researchers to provide insight into the confirmation and folding of molecules such as proteins. This information can be combined with other data sets to inform the three-dimensional structure of molecules.
Internal facility users
Internal, Griffith University users can book our facilities through the iLab application.
External facility users
Anyone external to Griffith University who would like to collaborate with us and access our state-of-the-art facilities can get in touch via e-mail.