Overview of Biophysical Assay Services
Biophysical assays enable understanding of the drug-target interaction on a molecular level. The residence time, mechanism of action, and kinetics are crucial for the therapeutic action of a drug and essential for the selection of analytes with the most promising properties for the next stage of drug discovery. Our team of biophysical assay experts, together with an array of cutting edge instrumentation, is available for hit identification, hit-to-lead, and lead characterization activities tailored to the needs of your research project.
Reaction Biology offers off-the-shelf biophysical assays, custom assay development, and optimization as well as integrated projects in close interaction with our team of biophysical assay experts.
Overview of the four biophysical assays offered at Reaction Biology.
Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) | Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) | Microscale Thermophoresis (MST) | Thermal Shift Assay (TSA) | |
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Physical Principle | Optical measurement that detects molecular mass changes of the target upon analyte binding |
Measures the heat released or absorbed during analyte binding to a target |
Measures the changes in the motion of target molecules along microscopic temperature gradients upon analyte binding |
Monitors the shift in melting temperature of a target upon analyte binding |
Binding Affinity Determination |
X | |||
Parameters Measured | Dissociation constant (KD) Association rate constant (kon) Dissociation rate constant (koff) |
Dissociation constant (KD) Binding enthalpy (ΔH) Binding stoichiometry |
Dissociation constant (KD) | Shift in melting temperature (ΔTm) |
Capacity | Medium to high throughput | Low throughput | Medium throughput | High throughput |
Sample Requirements | Purified target and agents required | Purified target and agents required | Purified target and agents required in most cases | Purified target and agents required |
Dynamic Ranges | pM to mM | pM to mM | pM to mM | N/A |
Advantages | Provides kinetic parameters (on/off rates) and is measured in real-time |
Provides thermodynamic parameters and binding stoichiometry |
Wide range of targets including small molecules and large macromolecular complexes |
Fast and inexpensive |
Immobilization | Target immobilized to the sensor chip | In solution | In solution | In solution |
Labeling | Label-free | Label-free | Fluorescent labeling of the target required | Label-free |