PEAQ-ITC launch – your questions answered
We were very excited to launch PEAQ-ITC – our brand new range of Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) instruments – a couple of weeks ago with a live demonstration. If you missed the online event, please click here to play it back.
During the Q&A session at the event, we were thrilled to receive so many questions about the new instrument. We covered some of the questions on the day but not all of them, so this blog post addresses everything to make sure you get all the information you need. If you have a question we haven’t covered in this long list, please contact our sales team or reach out to your local Malvern representative.
Don’t forget to also take a look at these great whitepapers focusing on the capabilities of PEAQ-ITC:
Whitepaper: Addressing the needs of drug discovery with the MicroCal PEAQ-ITC instruments
If you would like a demo of PEAQ-ITC, please click here.
If you would like a saleperson to contact you with a quote, please click here.
PEAQ-ITC Q&A
The paddle has a more severe twist, increasing mixing efficiency.
The short term noise is improved and so the data looks better and gives confidence to the user when the signal is small. However the sample requirements are the same.
This has had a complete redesign. There should be no more broken syringes.
Yes, it is very thorough and moves the detergent back and forth to make sure that all potential dirt ‘pockets’ are reached and cleaned
No, the design has been changed too much to make backward compatibility feasible.
Repeatability of result and good comparison with other techniques.
The same volumes are required.
Typically 5-25 uM in the cell and 5-250 uM in the syringe.
10-20 uM in the cell and 100-200 uM in the syringe.
The short term noise is improved and so the data looks better and gives confidence to the user when the signal is small. However the sample requirements are the same.
Yes, the cell shape and stiring mechanism were designed to maximize the response time of the instrument.
Very important, you must make sure that cell material does not bind proteins or other biomolecules.
Yes, my colleague recently presented on the use of this instrument in the study of nanoparticles – you can play back the webinar here.
No, but we believe this is very fast – a matter of minutes.
There have been no changes to cell filling.
The software is completely new.
No, we believe however that all the functionality provided by Origin will be available to PEAQ users but it will be easier to use and to find the appropriate tools because of a ‘workflow’ approach to the software design.
Yes
Yes, if both small molecules are in the cell and the protein is in the syringe
An artefact between peaks can be isolated from the fitting and baseline drawing. It can also be ‘drawn around’ using a mouse controlled tool.
We do include an algorithm to predict where the peak ends and the baseline begins.
It is possible but this has not been fully tested for all revisions and as such the software is not commercially available as a ‘stand alone.’
Yes- completely automatic
The enzyme analysis is improved but it is not fully automated.
Yes – with and without baseline removed.
Yes- the design tool works for all the binding models we provide.
All the previous models are supported- 1 site, 2 site, sequential, competition, dissociation and enzyme kinetics.
Yes- this is more likely to converge on the data and will be caught less frequently in a local minima.
Yes, it is difficult to discuss in general terms because this has changed gradually over the years. However I can tell you that the baseline is fit globally to the entire data set. The automated analysis uses a standard approach but this can be over ridden by the user using a number of tools provided with the software.
The software identifies data properties that are indicative of binding events or data quality-such as signal size or the time taken between injections.
Yes, the ‘rework’ tools have been made easier to use. For instance the entire isotherm can be visualized will working on one peak. Also, the integration markers and baseline markers can now be separated. This has the advantage that spurious peaks can be eliminated all together from the analysis process.
If the customer so wishes, the data can be fitted using a fixed stoichiometry and either the cell or syringe concentration can be floated instead.
No, this is not possible.
Yes, we are aware of Affinimeter software. I believe that Affinimeter provide a wider range of fitting options. Our software is designed to make the more common data types easier to analyze.
We now have the PEAQ-ITC Automated. This has some new functionality and some great new analysis software. The new functionality includes the ability to perform multiple experiments without refilling or cleaning the syringe. This was a request by some of our drug discovery customers who like to use the calorimeter to perform quick yes/no binding experiments for screening hits.
Yes, the instrument is available for demo. Please contact your local representative or click here to request a demo.
We will listen to our customers for feedback and strive for continuous improvement.