Fluorescence microplate reader for solution- and cell-based assays

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The Department of Microbiology and Immunology, at McGill University, maintains a common equipment core resource. This application is submitted for the purchase of a fluorescence-microplate reader, which is currently unavailable. Five NSERC-supported researchers or Canada Research Chairs currently supervising 22 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are part of this application. Taking advantage of the high sensitivity of fluorescence and the wide range of fluorescent labels available today, researchers of this Department will develop various solution- and cell-based assays. These new assays comprise fluorescence resonance energy transfer assays, enzymatic assays and whole-cell binding assays. By switching from existing radioisotope-based assays to fluorescence-based assays, researchers will be able to drastically reduce the amount of radioactive waste generated and lower the cost associated with waste disposal. In turn, this will make our research environment safer. In addition, the requested microplate reader will be pivotal to the development of high-throughput screening of small-molecule libraries to identify lead compounds. Upon optimization, these lead compounds may become tomorrow's medicines.