X-ray Crystallography & Molecular Interactions

Contact

Name: Ravi K. Lokareddy, PhD

1020 Locust Street
JAH Room 457 and 412
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Name: Gino Cingolani, PhD

1020 Locust Street
JAH Room 411 k
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Location & Contact Information

Name: Jefferson Alumni Hall

1020 Locust Street
Room 457
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Contact Number(s):

Mission, Goals, Capabilities

The X-ray Crystallography & Molecular Characterization Facility is a Kimmel Cancer Center (KCC) Core Resource that provides multiple Jefferson research groups with access to state-of-the-art instrumentation. 

All stages of structure determination by X-ray crystallography methods are supported, including crystallization screening, X-ray diffraction analysis, and computational processing of diffraction data. The Molecular Characterization equipment includes a Biacore 3000 surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor, an analytical ultracentrifuge, a circular dichroism spectrophotometer, two isothermal titration calorimeters, and a KinExA 3000 flow fluorimeter.  Thus, the Facility maintains multiple types of advanced instrumentation that are critical to the progress of several research programs at Jefferson that span multiple TJU Departments.  The Facility strives to maintain this equipment in top condition with minimal downtime for the Jefferson community. 

Major Equipment

X-ray Crystallography
 

  • Xcalibur PX Ultra 4-circle kappa geometry X-ray diffractometer equipped with Cryojet XL and a 165 mm Onyx CCD detector
  • Douglas Instruments Oryx8 crystallization robot
  • Hydra II plus one crystallization robot
  • Microscopes equipped with digital camera for crystal viewing and image capture.
  • Two dedicated 22°C  incubators and one 18°C temperature controlled room for crystallization trays storage

Molecular Characterization
 

  • Biacore 3000 Surface plasmon resonance
  • Low volume Nano-Isothermal Titration Calorimeter (Nano-ITC)
  • Standard volume VP-Isothermal Titration Calorimeter (VP-ITC)
  • Beckman Coulter XL-1 Analytical Ultracentrifuge (AUC)
  • Jasco J-810 circular dichroism spectropolarimeter (CD)
  • KinExA 3000 flow fluorimeter
  • GE Akta purifier liquid chromatography system

Services

  • Robotic crystallization condition screening in 96-well format using commercially available screens
  • User training on instrumentation and experimental expertise in determining three-dimensional atomic structures, macromolecular structure-function studies, and biophysical characterization