Welcome to SMART Core Facility
Welcome to SMART Core Facility
The Sample Preparation and Analysis Core Facility has established a robust protein expression and purification system, offering a wide range of physicochemical and interaction analysis services. It provides technical support for the structural and functional study of biomolecules and drug molecules and industrial translation.
The Facility is currently equipped with 26 major instruments and 20 specialized software packages.
1) Major Equipments for sample separation and purification
Seven protein purification systems, including models such as AKTA GO, AKTA PURE, and AKTA PURE Micro, along with a variety of purification columns, to meet different protein purification needs.
EXODUS H600 Automated Exosome Purification System for label-free, automated, and efficient exosome purification.
Two Optima XE-100 ultracentrifuges equipped with over ten rotors to accommodate various centrifugation requirements.
2) Major Equipments for physicochemical characterization
The Facility features three types of instruments for accurately measuring the molecular weight of biomolecules, all capable of label-free characterization of sample homogeneity, aggregation state, and complex assembly:
DAWN+OPTILAB+DynaPro NanoStar II Dynamic and Static Light Scattering system, which can be used in conjunction with SEC to determine molecular weight and hydrodynamic radius.
Two-MP Mass Photometer for rapid molecular weight determination at the single-particle level.
Optima AUC Analytical Ultracentrifuge for determining sedimentation coefficients, hydrodynamic radius, molecular weight, etc., with sample recovery capability.
The Facility also includes two types of instruments for measuring the thermal stability of biomolecules, enabling accurate label-free determination of thermal denaturation temperature (Tm), primarily used for protein stability studies and biopharmaceutical development:
MicroCal PEAQ-DSC Automated Differential Scanning Calorimeter, which also provides thermal stability parameters such as T½ (half-peak width), ΔH (enthalpy change), ΔHv, and ΔCp. It offers automation and excellent buffer compatibility.
Chirascan V100 Circular Dichroism Spectrometer, which requires minimal sample volume and enables real-time monitoring of secondary structure changes. It is also widely used for analyzing chiral compounds and protein secondary structures. Equipped with a stopped-flow device, it allows monitoring of millisecond-scale binding and reaction kinetics.
Other instruments for measuring physicochemical properties of biomolecules include:
Spark Multimode Microplate Reader, equipped with detection modules for absorbance, fluorescence intensity, time-resolved fluorescence, chemiluminescence, Alpha, and fluorescence polarization. It is used for sample quantification, qualitative analysis, and molecular binding studies.
Bio-Plex 200 Multiplex Immunoassay System, utilizing microsphere/magnetic bead dual fluorescence labeling and flow cytometry technology for automated, multi-channel, high-throughput, and high-sensitivity quantitative analysis of biomolecules.
3) Major Equipments for biomolecular interaction characterization
The platform is equipped with eight types of instruments based on different principles for measuring biomolecular interactions, applicable in drug target validation, lead compound screening, antibody characterization, and epitope analysis (see Table 1.1 for details).
Monolith Microscale Thermophoresis (MST), which detects the thermophoretic movement of fluorescent molecules to determine equilibrium dissociation constants (KD).
Microcal PEAQ-ITC Isothermal Titration Calorimeter, which requires no labeling or immobilization and measures binding heat changes to obtain KD, stoichiometry (n) and enthalpy change (ΔH).
Biacore 8K+ Surface Plasmon Resonance System
and Biacore 1K+ Surface Plasmon Resonance, utilizing Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) technology.
Octet R8 Bio-Layer Interferometry (BLI) system, based on bio-layer interferometry.
SX300 Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) system, a benchtop single-molecule analysis platform.
heliX+ Multimodal Molecular Interaction Analyzer, based on switchSENSE technology, enabling simultaneous analysis of binary and ternary complex formation.
Helix cyto Real-Time Interaction Cytometry, utilizing scIC technology for precise detection of native interactions at the live-cell level.
z-Movi Cell Avidity Analyse System, based on ultrasound resonance technology, enabling quantitative characterization of overall avidity (pN) in cell-cell and cell-biomacromolecule interactions.
The Sample Preparation and Analysis Platform has established 17 technical capabilities, as listed in Table 1.1, at least including:
Protein purification, protein expression (prokaryotic system), protein expression (293F system), plasmid construction, circular dichroism characterization, rapid reaction kinetics analysis, analytical ultracentrifugation, thermal stability analysis, capillary electrophoresis, SPR interaction analysis, BLI interaction analysis, MST interaction analysis, animal biochemical index detection, animal blood routine analysis, protein molecular weight distribution analysis, isothermal titration calorimetry for biomolecular interactions, and so on.
Since its establishment, the platform has served over 80 research groups, signed service agreements with more than 20 external research groups, completed over 35 full-process technical services, and delivered 8 experimental reports. It has been acknowledged in 3 publications:
Li Y et al. Sci Adv. 2025 – Utilized ITC technology to measure the binding affinity between the C-terminus of T286-phosphorylated cyclin D1 and the DDB1-AMBRA1WD40 complex.
Equipment Name/Model | Principle | Core Parameters Directly Obtained | Recommended Application | Ligand | Analyte |
MicroScale Thermophoresis /Monolith | MicroScale Thermophoresis (MST) | KD | Rapid affinity validation | Fluorescently labeled, optional unpurified sample | Purified sample |
Benchtop Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy Single-Molecule Analyzer/SX300 | Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS), etc. | KD, Kon, Koff | Detection in cell lysate | Fluorescently labeled, optional unpurified sample | Purified sample, or unpurified sample if fluorescently labeled |
Isothermal Titration Calorimeter/Microcal PEAQ-ITC | Direct measurement of heat changes during binding | KD，n，ΔH | Sample requires no labeling or immobilization | Purified sample | Purified sample |
Surface Plasmon Resonance System/Biacore 8K+ | Surface Plasmon Resonance | KD, Kon, Koff | High-throughput kinetic screening | Immobilized on chip | Purified sample |
Surface Plasmon Resonance/Biacore 1K+ | In-depth kinetic characterization | ||||
Bio-Layer Interferometry (BLI) system/Octet R8 | Bio-Layer Interferometry | KD, Kon, Koff | High-throughput kinetic screening | Immobilized on sensor | Purified sample |
Multi-Modes Interaction Biosensor /HeliX+ | switchSENSE technology | KD, Kon, Koff | Studying binary and ternary complex formation | Immobilized on sensor | Purified sample |
Real-Time Interaction Cytometry /Helix cyto | scIC technology | KD, Kon, Koff | In-situ binding on biological membranes/cells | Cells immobilized on chip | Fluorescently labeled |
Cell Avidity Analyse System /z-Movi | Ultrasonic Resonance Technology | Avidity (in pN) | Cell-cell interaction, cell-matrix interaction | Cells immobilized on chip | Fluorescently labeled cells |
Equilibrium dissociation constant (KD), Stoichiometry (n), Association rate constant (kon), Dissociation rate constant (koff), Enthalpy change (ΔH) | |||||
Su M et al. Cell Res. 2025 – Applied MST technology to determine the binding affinity of wild-type/mutant SZT2, KPTN, ITFG2, and His–C12orf66 (KICSTOR) with NPRL3, DEPDC5, and NPRL2 (GATOR1).
Zhou H et al. Mol. Cancer 2026 – Used MST technology to analyze the binding of ACVR1C-ECD-Fc with GREM1-his or Activin B-his.
Graduated with a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University. Primarily utilizing electron microscopy and physiological methods to study membrane proteins associated with major diseases, elucidating their functions and mechanisms. She is also a specially appointed researcher at the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation. She has been awarded the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Excellent Young Scientist Fund, Youth Fund, and General Program. She has published five first-author (including co-first author) papers in the top international academic journal Science and eight co-corresponding author papers in journals such as PNAS and Nature Communications.
13501194765
panxj@smart.org.cn
深圳市光明区卫光生命科学园1A栋三层
Graduated with a Ph.D. from Nankai University. Primarily responsible for managing equipment such as Protein Purification System, Isothermal Titration Calorimetry, MicroScale Thermophoresis, High-throughput and High-sensitivity Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) system, Automatic Exosome Isolation System, Circular Dichroism Spectrometer, Analytical Ultracentrifuge, Multiplex Immunoassay System, Multi-Angle Light Scattering & Dynamic Light Scattering Detectors, and so on. Awarded the General project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission's Free Exploration Project, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, and so on. He has been awarded the General project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission's Free Exploration Project, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, and so on. He is the High-Level Professional in ShenZhen and has published 7 articles as the first author (including a total of one) in high-level journals such as Nature Communications and Cell Reports.
13671959351
xiexingqiao@smart.org.cn
深圳市光明区卫光生命科学园1A栋三层
Graduated with a Ph.D. from Sun Yat-sen University. Mainly responsible for the high-throughput surface plasmon resonance system Biacore 8K+, biolayer interferometer Octet R8, the prokaryotic and yeast expression systems and other related equipment. Participated in the National Natural Science Foundation project, Shenzhen Basic Research projects (Natural Science Foundation) key project and general projects. The research results were published in Nature Communications and Biosensor & Bioelectronics as co-first author.
15625063726
linxuezhen@smart.org.cn
深圳市光明区卫光生命科学园1A栋三层
Graduated with a Master's degree from Southern University of Science and Technology. Mainly responsible for ultracentrifuge, AKTA protein purification systems, multi-mode plate reader, tangential flow ultrafiltration system and other related equipment. She is skilled in protein expression and purification technology and physical and chemical property detection of biological molecules. She has participated in the National Natural Science Foundation of China project, and published a research paper in Cell Reports as a co-author, and has 3 patents.
15901507229
zhangjing@smart.org.cn
深圳市光明区卫光生命科学园1A栋三层
Graduated with a Master's degree from Shantou University. Mainly responsible for Real-Time PCR System, Density gradient preparation and separation system, Automatic exosome isolation system, Spark multi-mode plate reader, Protein purification systemt and other related equipment. Skilled in a variety of experimental methodologies, such as minigene technology, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), RNA pull-down, Transwell assay, and MTS assay. Participated in multiple National Natural Science Foundation of China projects.
15019899679
zhouyingxin@smart.org.cn
深圳市光明区卫光生命科学园1A栋三层
Master graduated from ShanghaitTech University. She is mainly responsible for ultracentrifuge, Protein purification systems, Bacterial Shaker, High Pressure Homogenizer and other related equipment. She specializes in protein expression, purification, and physicochemical property analysis, proficient in experimental methods such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR), Flow Cytometry (FCM), Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), ELISA and other experimental methods. She has actively participated in several National Natural Science Foundation projects.
18800302621
liubingru@smart.org.cn
深圳市光明区卫光生命科学园1A栋三层
Return to Main Site
Search
中文
中文
Home
Message
