Spectroscopy (Catania)

The spectroscopy laboratory is dedicated to the biophysical characterization of macromolecules of biological interest. The instrumentation in use, associated with that of the thermodynamic laboratory, allows us to provide structural information on the macromolecules in solution and to investigate structure / activity correlations. The techniques used provide information on the secondary structure (CD) and tertiary (fluorescence) of proteins, the characterization of copper-ion complexes with peptides (CD and UV-Vis spectroscopy), enzymatic kinetics and the reaction mechanisms related to them , the interactions between macromolecules and macromolecules with ligands (UV-Vis spectroscopy, fluorescence), Western Blot, in-cell Western and SDS-PAGE detection (Odissay)

Jasco J-810 Spectropolarimeter 

The Jasco J-810 utilizes Circular Dichroism (CD) to measure the differential absorption of left and right circularly polarized light, providing critical data on the folding, stability, and coordination of biological molecules. This technique is essential for monitoring structural changes induced by pH, temperature, or solvents, as well as for studying the binding of ligands and metal ions. The system is equipped with a Peltier temperature controller and supports various cell volumes to accommodate different sample concentrations.

Spectrofluorometer FluoroMax-4 Horiba Scientific equipped with DH-HT TCSPC controller and NL-C2 Pulsed diode controller for fluorescence life-time detection

The FluoroMax® fluorometer is an easy-to-use Steady State (SS) and Life Time (LT) benchtop fluorescence instrument. It consists of the FluoroMax Plus, a high-performance tabletop fluorometer and a (TCSPC) Time Correlated Single Photon Counting lifetime measurements as short as 25ps. The instrument allows to carry out induced steady state, lifetime and fluorescence anisotropy (temperature, pH, solvents, interaction between molecules, enzymatic kinetics) with high level of accuracy and sensitivity. For LT measurements, the wide range of LED and laser sources supplied allows to cover most of the electromagnetic spectrum from 260nm to about 600nm

Microplate Reader Victor Nivo (Revvity)

The Victor Nivo multimodal microplate reading system is a flexible system to be used for a variety of techniques ranging from photometry, to fluorescence, to luminescence. The multi-plate system (up to 1536 wells) allows to carry out a large number of measurements with low product consumption (from 200 to a few tens of microliters)

Western Blot Detection System Odissay Li-Cor

Detection System Odissay Li-Cor it is possible to analyze Western blots, cell-based assays, protein arrays, gel shift assays, tissue section imaging, with near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence. It is possible to scan up to 9 mini-blots, 6 microplates, or 30 slides at the same time. The large scanning bed provides high throughput for many assays.

Specification:

Image Field Size : 25 cm W × 25 cm D (9.8” W × 9.8” D)

Resolution: 21-337 µm

Light Sources: Solid-state diode laser at 685 nm; Solid-state diode laser at 785 nm