This blog answers FAQs on the new Automated and Manual MicroCal PEAQ-DSC systems. For more information, check your user manual, or contact your regional Malvern Panalytical Support.
 
 
 
Q: How much sample do I need to fill the MicroCal PEAQ-DSC cell?
For the MicroCal Automated PEAQ-DSC, you need to have at least 325 μL of the sample or buffer in the appropriate well of the 96-well plate. This is the default setting for the experimental setup. 300 μL is removed by the filling syringe.
You can use a larger sample volume (up to 400 μL)  and …

In a previous blog, I discussed best practices to achieve high-quality data with a MicroCal DSC. Here are more best practices for the MicroCal PEAQ-DSC system, as well as the MicroCal VP-Capillary DSC and VP-DSC systems. These best practices apply to the analysis of proteins in solution, and other biopolymers.
 
 
Sample requirements:

For high-quality Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) data, the samples need to be in desired buffer (pH, salt, excipients, etc.), and the matched buffer is used in the DSC reference cell and for buffer-buffer scans.
Prepare samples in the desired buffer …

Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) is considered the ‘gold standard’ biophysical assay to determine the binding affinity/dissociation constant for any interaction involving proteins, nucleic acids, or lipids. ITC also determines the binding stoichiometry (related to the number of binding sites), and the binding thermodynamics.
MicroCal LLC, now part of Malvern Panalytical, launched the world’s first commercial ITC instrument, the OMEGA, in 1987 (there are several OMEGA ITCs still in use today!).  MicroCal then followed this success with the MCS ITC in 1992, the VP-ITC in 1998, and the iTC200 in 2007. In …

The MicroCal PEAQ-DSC was one of 15 technologies awarded a 2017 Innovation Award presented by The Medicine Maker Magazine. This was the third year that The Medicine Maker magazine has awarded this honor reserved for new technologies that aid in pharmaceutical drug development and manufacturing. These technologies range from those that reduce production time to others that improve the safety of a drug in an effort to provide recognition to the vendors whose technologies allow for breakthroughs in the pharmaceutical industry.
PEAQ-DSC is praised alongside Adents’ Prodigi, a cloud-based serialization solution; …

Recently, Technology Network published an online article on Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) This article discusses the basics of DSC and provides guidelines and technical tips for successful DSC experiments.
This article focuses on the new MicroCal PEAQ-DSC system from Malvern Panalytical.  This instrument provides high quality, reproducible DSC data.  The MicroCal PEAQ-DSC instrument is an useful addition to any lab that analyzes proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and other biopolymers. DSC data are critical to the stability characterization of biotherapeutic drugs during development, to help choose the most stable drugs.
For more information on …

Isothermal Titration Calorimetry
Molecular recognition is key in all biological processes and cellular responses. It is critical to characterize the structural and thermodynamic forces behind the recognition and specificity of macromolecular interactions in order to understand the molecular events in a cell. Several biophysical techniques (including fluorescence, circular dichroism, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy, surface plasmon resonance, and microscale thermophoresis) are used to characterize non-covalent molecular interactions.
Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) has become a popular and versatile bioanalytical method for the direct measurement of binding affinity between interacting molecules.  ITC instruments were …

Binding Affinity
 
Understanding binding affinity is key to appreciation of the intermolecular interactions driving biological processes, structural biology, and structure-function relationships. It is also measured as part of the drug discovery process to help design drugs that bind their targets selectively and specifically.
We recently launched a new short video showcasing the MicroCal PEAQ-ITC and how it is an essential piece to any biological interaction analysis toolkit for measuring Binding affinity and stoichiometry.

The MicroCal PEAQ-ITC offers key benefits over other ITC systems including:
PEAQ-Expert: New easy-to-use software to guide your way includes built-in …

Protein Antigens and DSC

This blog highlights two recent articles that focus on the use of a MicroCal Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) system.
Differential Scanning Calorimetry – A Method for Assessing the Thermal Stability and Conformation of Protein Antigen
I.B. Duruwoju, K.M. Bhandal, J. Hu, B. Carpick, and M. Kirkitadze
Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), Issue 121, e55262, doi:10.3791/55262 (2017)
The authors (from Sanofi Pasteur in Toronto, Canada), provide a detailed protocol to perform Differential Scanning Calorimetry experiments on an automated DSC, such as a MicroCal VP-Capillary DSC system from Malvern Instruments.  This piece is a JoVE …

A professional and personal view
If your newsfeed from scientific and mainstream media sources is anything like mine, you have seen numerous articles and blogs about the ‘reproducibility crisis’ in the life sciences.
Well-established cornerstones of scientific inquiry and research are the publication of findings in peer-reviewed journals, along with the opportunity for others to reproduce and verify published data.  This advancement and consolidation of knowledge leads to further understanding on how biological systems work, and provides the basis for the discovery and development of new drugs which benefit all of us.
However, there …

Malvern Instruments is known for particle sizing technologies. Did you know that many of our instruments are used to characterize proteins, nucleic acids, liposomes, exosomes, and other biomolecules?
Our instruments are used in academic and government research labs, as well as pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
In North America, we have a team of field application scientists and sales consultants who are focused on biomolecule characterization using microcalorimetry, light scattering, Taylor dispersion analysis, nanoparticle tracking analysis, resonant mass measurement, and size-exclusion chromatography.
In the upcoming months, Malvern representatives are attending the scientific conferences listed …

The NEW MicroCal PEAQ-DSC – the gold standard for thermal stability determination
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is an established biophysical tool for protein stability characterization during drug development. DSC data are used to advance the most stable and ‘developable’ proteins into the pipeline, and optimize the process and formulation conditions which will maintain protein stability during manufacturing and storage. DSC data are also important in higher order structure (HOS) protein characterization, lot-to-lot comparability, and characterization of biosimilar drugs compared to innovators.
Our previous technology, the MicroCal VP-Capillary DSC Automated system, is a …

My introduction to Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was a postdoctoral fellow in the late 1980s.  I was producing mutant forms of the enzyme thymidylate synthase, and I needed to characterize the effects amino acid changes had on the overall stability of the protein.  Using a DSC instrument at our facility, I compared the thermal stability of the different mutants to wild-type protein by ranking the thermal transition temperature (TM). As I recall, I needed about 2 mg -4 mg protein per DSC experiment, which was a lot of protein at …

DSC for the regulated environment
 

 
Advancing biotherapeutic molecules along the drug development pipeline is a complex, time-consuming and expensive process. Good stability is key to a candidate’s progression, and must be assessed and reviewed throughout development – from candidate selection, through formulation development, all the way to batch-to-batch comparability or biosimilarity assessment….and beyond! Objective, reliable stability data is needed for confident decision-making about which drug products and processes to move through development into commercialization.
Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) is a biophysical tool for protein stability characterization. The MicroCal VP-Capillary DSC system, launched in 2002, …

Ah, the holidays are here! This is the time of year when we enjoy special ‘once a year’ holiday meals and treats with family and friends. There are the succulent cuts of meat, marbled with fat…..perhaps you have a holiday goose or duck. There are the vegetables and pastas coated with butter, cheese, or cream sauces. There are the rich, buttery desserts. Let’s not forget the candy, chips, eggnog, and almost every delicious, decadent item we eat or drink. We all have our favorite holiday dishes, which are likely high …

I always enjoy meeting our Malvern customers whenever I travel to different sites and events. I have been assisting customers with MicroCal ITC (Isothermal Titration Calorimetry) and DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimetry) instruments for over 15 years, and there are customers I have known since 2001. Every time I think I “know it all” I always learn something new from our customers, such as a unique sample analyzed using our instruments, or a “trick” for sample preparation or data analysis.
Malvern Instruments recently hosted two MicroCal “User Days” in San Diego, CA …

Thermodynamics – Recap of the 30th Annual Gibbs Conference on Biothermodynamics 
ΔG = ΔH – TΔS
 
Many scientists will recognize this equation, relating the enthalpy and entropy change of a reaction to ΔG or “Gibbs energy.”  But do you know anything about the man behind this expression of energy?
Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839 –1903), spent most of his life in New Haven, Connecticut. His work on the applications of thermodynamics was instrumental in transforming physical chemistry into a rigorous deductive science. Together with James Clerk Maxwell and Ludwig Boltzmann, he created statistical mechanics (a term that Gibbs coined), explaining the laws of thermodynamics as consequences of the …

Malvern Instruments is sponsoring two “MicroCal User Days” in October:

Tuesday October 18 2016: West Coast MicroCal User Day in San Diego, CA
This complimentary 1-day event will include presentations by scientists discussing how ITC and/or DSC are used as part of their research.

Invited speakers:
Bill Callahan III, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Amgen Thousand Oaks, Characterizing Amorphous Suspensions: Potential Formulation Option for Monoclonal Antibodies
Matthew McGann, Product Manager, Innovative Products, Malvern Instruments, Assessing Bioformulation Stability – From prediction to characterizing particle content

Thursday October 27 2016: New England MicroCal User Day in Cambridge, MA
Come hear from …

Epigenetics – A Hot Topic in Scientific Research
If you follow scientific literature in peer-reviewed journals, as well as mainstream news and social media, you have certainly heard of epigenetics. Epigenetics has been linked to human conditions such as cancer, obesity, diabetes and depression, and is an active area for drug discovery.
What is epigenetics?
In the late 1940s, Conrad Waddington introduced the term “epigenetic” (derived from “epigenesis”) as a branch of biology for the study of the interaction between genes and their products, related to the phenotype. Currently, epigenetics refers to …

Digging Deeper with Differential Scanning Calorimetry to Study Key Protein Characteristics 

Please join us for a webinar presented by Dr Katherine Bowers (Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies USA Inc.) for an informative webinar on how Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) is used in protein characterization.

 
 
DSC has a long history of playing a vital role in protein biophysical studies as well as in biopharmaceutical development. From candidate selection, formulation development, stability monitoring and bio-similarity assessment, DSC still remains one of the top assays utilized in the pharmaceutical industry during the development and approval of protein-based …

In a recent blog, I discussed the popularity of Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) in life sciences research, and cited the increasing number of citations found in Google Scholar searches.
A 2016 review article in Journal of Molecular Recognition by Robert J Falconer, from University of Sheffield (UK), entitled “Applications of isothermal titration calorimetry – the research and technical developments from 2011 to 2015” showed a similar growth of ITC publications.
Between 2003 and 2012, the Journal of Molecular Recognition published annual surveys of ITC research (see links below for the most recent …