A low-cost 3D-printable differential scanning fluorometer for protein and RNA melting experiments

HardwareX

Stefan J. Hammerschmidt¹  Fabian Barthels²  Tanja Schirmeister³  Mark Helm³  Collin Zimmer³  Tim R. Fischer³  Elisabeth Kallert³  Christian Kersten³ 

[1]Institute for Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Staudinger Weg 5, 55128 Mainz, Germany

[2]Corresponding author.

[3]Institute for Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Staudinger Weg 5, 55128 Mainz, Germany

关键词: Differential scanning fluorimetry;    Thermal shift assay;    ESP32;    Protein melting point;    Biophysical chemistry;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF) is a widely used biophysical technique with applications to drug discovery and protein biochemistry. DSF experiments are commonly performed in commercial real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) thermal cyclers or nanoDSF instruments. Here, we report the construction, validation, and example applications of an open-source DSF system for 176 €, which, in addition to protein-DSF experiments, also proved to be a versatile biophysical instrument for less conventional RNA-DSF experiments. Using 3D-printed parts made of polyoxymethylene, we were able to fabricate a thermostable machine chassis for protein-melting experiments. The combination of blue high-power LEDs as the light source and stage light foil as filter components was proven to be a reliable and affordable alternative to conventional optics equipment for the detection of SYPRO Orange or Sybr Gold fluorescence. The ESP32 microcontroller is the core piece of this openDSF instrument, while the in-built I2S interface was found to be a powerful analog-to-digital converter for fast acquisition of fluorescence and temperature data. Airflow heating and inline temperature control by thermistors enabled high-accuracy temperature management in PCR tubes (±0.1 °C) allowing us to perform high-resolution thermal shift assays (TSA) from exemplary biological applications.

【 授权许可】

Unknown