Circular dichroism (CD) is a spectroscopic technique used to characterise chiral materials by measuring the differential absorption of left-handed and right-handed circularly polarised light. It can provide structural information on biomolecules, such as secondary and tertiary structure of proteins, through its sensitivity to their optically active chromophores – amino acids residues and peptide bonds.
We use CD to measure our gels in a similar way to how people measure peptides. The data collected can tell us about the structures formed in our gels and solutions in the nanoscale.
An Applied Photophysics Chirascan VX is available for us to use within the School of Chemistry.
https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/chemistry/analyticalservices/circulardichroism/
To be trained, you must contact Christopher Kelly (christopher.kelly.3@glasgow.ac.uk) and arrange a time with him for training. After training, you will be added to the Chirascan booking system and can book the spectrometer for use. It is helpful to bring some samples along to the training.
Due to the high concentration and concentration-dependence of our samples, it is necessary to use a 0.01 mm demountable cuvette to measure the CD spectra of solutions or gels. (The department has the appropriate adapters for using the 0.01 mm cuvettes in the Chirascan) It Is possible to do variable temperature CD experiments. Be sure to discuss these with Chris prior to running to ensure you know how to use the temperature controller and that the temperature range you wish to use is allowed.
When running CD, it is a good idea to bring: the appropriate cuvette (be sure to sign the cuvette in and out of the log book next to UV-Vis 1), your samples, gloves, a beaker for collecting aqueous waste, a wash-bottle containing deionised water and some disposable pipettes for preparing your samples. Once you are finished, make sure you clean the cuvette you have used and put it back in the cuvette cupboard.
Dave Adams Lab 