Shared Research Facilities and Equipment

XCL primarily functions as a service crystallographic facility for the University and are actively collaborating with Department of Chemistry, Inorganic, Organic, and Material Division, Physics and Astronomy, biology, as well as the School of Pharmacy and the School of Medicine. The facility houses three single Crystal X-ray diffractometers, Bruker D8 VENTURE with dual sources (Copper Diamond/microfocus Moly), Bruker Kappa Apex II with Moly radiation, and Bruker SMART Apex II with copper radiation, which are fully maintained by the XCL Director. Service includes SC-XRD structure determination and various PXRD techniques, and user training is available for both SC- and powder XRD techniques. XCL is currently working to enable the MicroED with the use of CryoEM. Please email for detail.
Additional experiments at Argonne National Laboratory, SCrAPS – Synchrotron Crystallography at Advanced Photon Source, are carried out three times a year for samples that diffract too weakly using the conventional radiation source at the facility. XCL provides both client- and user-based services where clients enjoy the convenience of the service, and users gain privilege and flexibilities in instrument operation, data collection, and structure solution and refinement with or without the assistance of the XCL personnel. To become a proficient user, requirements such as passing the X-ray Crystallography course as well as instrument-specific and safety training and exams need to be fulfilled.

The Immune Profiling Core offers fee for service sample processing, cryopreservation, biobanking, and immunological assays such as flow cytometry, luminex, ELISpot, and ELISA. In addition, Core staff offer guidance in support of grant/contract applications as well as assay/study design, training and mentoring.

We provide light microscopy, laser scanning confocal microscopy, and electron microscopy (TEM & SEM) equipment and technical support to ASU and western North Carolina. See policy at: http://www.casmifa.appstate.edu/Policies.html

The Duke Chemistry Shared Instrumentation Facility houses modern and diverse instrumentation for a range of analytical needs, including mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, and a variety of supporting instruments. Most shared instruments are available for walk-up use by Duke researchers once they have received the required training. Reservations for instruments can be made online by qualified users once they have been provided access to the instrument calendars by the Facility Director.

The DFGSR provides infrastructure and expertise for the implementation of CRISPR and RNAi-based technologies, both small- and genome-scale. We also provide compound screening services and high-throughput assay development. Open to non-Duke investigators.

The Duke Microbiome Shared Resource provides a centralized resource hub to enhance the existing interactions with the Duke Microbiome Center, Duke Cancer Institute, and Genomic and Computational Biology shared resources to address the role of microbial systems in human healthcare, food production and environmental restoration. This resource will provide access to a variety of services that will enable researchers to focus on microbial communities (bacteria, fungi and virus), immune oncology, cancer research and infectious disease.

Duke MGC uses state-of-the-art technology to offer a variety of experimental platforms to facilitate genomics research for single-cell and spatial omics, DNA genotyping and methylation, and Simoa® bead-based immunoassays.

We provide small animal imaging instrumentation, training and analysis support. Whole animal imaging systems are capable of combined fluorescence, bioluminescence, and x-ray imaging. We also offer intravital microscopy including surgical training and support.

SERVICES PROVIDED: • Comprehensive PRECLINICAL PK/PD support (drug properties, formulation, drug administration, blood/tissue collection, LC/MS/MS or HPLC analysis, PK/PD calculations, dosing regimen design) • Phase I/II CLINICAL PK support (study design, sampling protocol, plasma analysis, PK calculations) • CUSTOM small molecule analysis of drugs, drug metabolites, biomarkers, physiological metabolites in cell culture, biofluids (e.g. blood, plasma, serum, milk, synovial fluid, etc.), and tissues (tumor, vital organs, skin, fat, bone marrow, bone, etc.) MAJOR TECHNOLOGY: • Applied Biosystems/Sciex API 5500 QTrap and API 4000 QTrap, MS/MS spectrometers with Shimadzu 20A and Agilent 1100/1200 HPLC stacks HPLC-fluorescence, HPLC-UV/vis • Shimadzu 20A series HPLC-UV/vis and Waters 2695 series HPLC fluorescence and UV/vis. • Brookhaven 90Plus PALS dynamic light scattering (DLS) for nanoparticle size and zeta-potential

The Duke Proteomics and Metabolomics Core Facility provides capabilities for mass spectrometry based proteomics and metabolomics for identification and quantitation, including biomarker discovery and biomarker verification experiments. The DPMSR is in a ~8,100 sq. ft. laboratory in the Chesterfield Building in Downtown Durham, one custom built for mass spectrometry based proteomics and metabolomics. For qualitative identifications and biomarker discovery experiments (‘omic-scale qualitative and quantitative analyses), the laboratory is equipped with eight high resolution accurate mass LC-MS/MS systems, each using a dedicated ultra-high performance liquid chromatography systems (Waters MClass or IClass Acquity systems). Five of these systems are hybrid quadrupole-orbitrap tandem mass spectrometers – a Fusion Lumos Tribrid with ETD, a Fusion Lumos Tribrid with ETD and UVPD, a Q-Exactive Plus, a Q-Exactive-HF-X and a LTQ-Orbitrap (Thermo). The other three systems are hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometers (one Synapt G1, and two Synapt G2 High Definition Mass Spectrometers, Waters). For biomarker verification experiments metabolomic analyses and pharmacokinetic analyses, targeted mass spec quantitative experiments are performed on an MClass or ICLass UPLC system coupled to a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer (one Sciex 6500+ QTrap, one Sciex 6500+ Triple, one Waters Xevo TQ-XS and two Waters Xevo TQ-S). For these experiments, data acquisition is accomplished using LC-MS/MS with Multiple Reaction Monitoring. There is an I-Class Acquity coupled to a Waters’ Fraction Manager (two 96 well plates) for offline fractionation (high pH RP or SCX). Additionally, our lab is equipped with a Neo Vanquish (Thermo) UPLC and an Evosep One LC for high-throughput proteomics. The laboratory also has the tools needed for enrichments (chemical and/or antibody-based) of sub-proteomes based on Post-Translational Modifications, including glycosylation, phosphorylation (pST, pY, pSTY global or kinase motif-specific enrichments), acetylation, ubiquitination, methylation, acylation, and S-nitrosylation, followed by characterization using UPLC-MS/MS or UPLC/UPLC-MS/MS. For metabolomic studies, the DPMCF has targeted assays for >750 metabolites, including amino acids, biogenic amines, lipids, bile acids, oxylipins, hydroxycholesterols, fatty acids (long chain and short chain), purines/pyrimidines, and energy cycle metabolites. Metabolomic analyses using the Biocrates platforms are available (Q500, p180, bile acids).