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Liu Lab Equipment List & Research Environment

 

Within our laboratory, the group members have access to the following major equipment:

 

  • Bruker E560 EPR/ENDOR spectrometer with a cryogen-free 4 K temperature system


  • Applied Photophysics SX20 Stopped-Flow UV-Vis spectrophotometer with a photomultiplier tube, and photodiode array as well as fluorescence detectors; Rapid-freeze quench (RFQ) apparatus (from Update Instruments), and Agilent 8453 UV-visible spectroscopy system


  • The synthetic corner: Teledyne Isco CombiFlash Rf+ chromatography, IKA rotovapor, chiller, and vacuum gas manifold


  • Coy glove and gloveless anaerobic chamber


  • Thermo Scientific Ultimate-3000SD HPLC rapid separation system with autosampler and photodiode array detector


  • Microcal VP isothermal calorimeter (VP-ITC)


  • Gryphon crystallization robotic system from Art Robbins Instruments


  • Leica microscope, vibration-free crystallization refrigerators, and Linux workstations for remote data collection at the beamlines


  • Michrom Gemini microcapillary LC interfaced with a Thermo-Finnigan LCQ ESI mass spectrometer with nanospray (LC-MS/MS)


  • Tecan Infinite M200 Quad monochrometer microplate UV-vis and fluorescence spectrometer for the screening of therapeutic compounds


  • New Brunswick Scientific BioFlo 410 fermentor (already upgraded to model 415 in 2017)


  • Microfluidics LM20-30 cell disruptor


  • AKTA FPLC, AKTA purifier, and two AKTA start systems


  • Dual laser Beckman Coulter Quanta SC with cell counting/sizing capability


  • Cary eclipse fluorescence spectrometer and homemade O2 level controller


  • Refrigerated shakers from Eppendorf Scientific (New Brunswick) and Thermo


  • Multiple -80 C freezers and refrigerators


    • Not pictured equipment:

  • Mammalian cell line culture including Nuaire CO2 water-jacketed incubator (it is currnetly lent to a colleague)
  • All relevant tools for protein crystallography, including Linux workstations and Molecular Dimensions vibration-free refrigerators
  • Clark-type oxygen electrode and hydrogen peroxdie oxygen electrode with upgraded gas blender
  • WPI free radical analyzer with hydrogen peroxide electrode
  • Update Instruments Model 715 rapid mixer and quenching system (RFQ)
  • Agilent/Hewlett-Packard 8453 diode array spectrophotometers (2X)
  • Perkin-Elmer Lambda 25 spectrophotometer
  • Turner design/Promega model TD-20/20 luminometer
  • Leitz HM-Lux microscope
  • Olympus CKX41SF2, inverted stage, phase contrast microscope with camera
  • Perkin Elmer thermal cycler (block type) and Eppendorf mastercycler gradient PCR systems
  • Class II Type A2 biosafety cabinet
  • Beckman high-speed centrifuges: Avanti J-26 XP & J-E
  • Anaerobic Shlenk line
  • Speed vac and lyophilizer
  • Alpha Mager HP

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    Research Environment


    The UTSA Department of Chemistry is ranked highly by Nature Index among all chemistry departments in the United States. The Department provides NMR, Mass spectrometry, and other shared facilities to all the research groups without or with minimal charges. For details, please see https://www.utsa.edu/chem/stacc.html and https://www.utsa.edu/chem/resources.html.

     

    The Department of Biology, located in the same BSE building, has research strengths in the following areas: Cell and Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Immunology, Neurobiology, and Plant Biology.

     

    The BSE building also hosts multiple research centers and institutes related to our research and provide seminars as well as research resources to us as we need. These include Center of Excellence in Infection Genomics (CEIG), Neurosciences Institute, San Antonio Cellular Therapeutics Institute (SACTI), and South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID).

     

    The University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSCSA) at San Antonio is a high-level education and medical research center located in the medical district of San Antonio, about seven miles from our laboratory. UTHSCSA is the most significant health sciences campus in South Texas with M.D./Ph.D. programs and research hospital as well as patient care. We have partially overlapping research interests and collaborations with the faculty of Departments of Biochemistry, Cellular & Structural Biology, Microbiology & Immunology, Molecular Medicine, Pharmacology, and Physiology.