ASSAY DEVELOPMENT TECHNICAL NOTE
Accelerate your assay development using the enhanced
Binding Check module in Monolith's MO.Control 2 software
Introduction
Monolith uses MicroScale Thermophoresis (MST) technology, which is a well-established
biophysical method that provides a deep understanding of how molecules interact. It
is extremely versatile in that it can be performed with almost any buffer and even with
complex bioliquids such as serum or cell lysate
1–4
. Eventhough, the molecular interactions
themselves occur in highly specific buffer conditions, e.g. pH, ionic strength or even
require certain cofactors. For example, even small changes in pH can lead to protein
unfolding, aggregation and functional inactivity
5
. Such disruptions would affect the MST
signal by decreasing the signal-to-noise ratio, inducing aggregation of the sample or
adsorption of the target to capillary walls. That's why MST experiments should always
include a buffer optimization step as part of the assay development procedure.
Buffer optimization had been viewed as time-consuming and tedious as it involved
manual comparison of data from multiple separate experiments.
To address this, the MO.Control 2 so ware* that comes with
Monolith is equipped with an advanced Binding Check module
that can test up to 6 different buffer conditions in one run. This
makes the selection of the right assay buffer faster and more
convenient
Tanja Bartoschik, Katarzyna Walkiewicz, Matthias Molnar
NanoTemper Technologies GmbH, Munich, Germany
* not compatible with Monolith NT.115
