# High-throughput label-free detection system for biomolecular interaction analysis

> **NIH NIH S10** · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $349,701

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This shared-instrument grant (SIG) proposal requests funds to purchase a Sartorius Octet RED384 system for
real-time, label- and microfluidics-free detection and quantification of biomolecular interactions based on biolayer
interferometry (BLI). The instrument will be operated and maintained by the Cornell Biotechnology Resource
Center (BRC), an integrated center of core facilities administered by the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology. The
BRC will provide support from a facility director, technical experts, and an administrative team that have a proven
track-record managing shared resources for the biomedical and broader life science research community. The
goal is to provide a modern, user-friendly biomolecular interaction analysis system for use by 13 major users
and 6 minor users, all of whom are NIH-funded investigators located at Cornell University. The instrument will
be installed in the basement of Weill Hall, in close proximity to its sister facility, the BRC Imaging Core Facility.
In this location, it will be co-located with existing shared resources for biophysical measurements including an
Agilent Seahorse instrument for real-time cell metabolic analysis, fluorometers, and spectrophotometers that
together comprise the nascent BRC Biophysics Core. The only comparable instruments on Cornell’s campus
are a single-channel Sartorious Personal Assay BLItz system and a two-channel, microfluidics-based Biacore
3000 surface plasmon resonance (SPR) system, which was originally acquired in 2011 but has been rendered
obsolete as the manufacturer no longer supports the instrument. Acquisition of the requested state-of-the-art
system will greatly advance the capabilities of the Cornell BRC, expanding its Biophysics Core Facility to include
much-needed biomolecular interaction analysis and helping to meet the needs of its NIH-funded researchers.
Moreover, the instrument will make available several new features that will be of great benefit to major and minor
users alike. For instance, the instrument can accommodate high-throughput assay formats using 96- and 384-
well plates, thereby allowing Cornell’s NIH-funded users, for the first time, to perform large-scale binding studies
or screening of libraries containing chemical compounds, small molecules or macromolecules such as proteins.
The 16-channel instrument allows analysis of 16 samples simultaneously, which opens the door to serum IgG
titering and epitope binning, immunological methods that are currently inaccessible with our existing BLItz and
SPR systems. Even simple assays like ELISA can be streamlined on the Octet RED384 system with the added
benefit of detecting low-affinity analytes often missed by conventional ELISA, minimizing handling via automated
and wash-free steps, and recovering and re-using samples and reagents. Equally important, the microfluidic-
free “dip-and-read” format of the Octet RED384 reduces assay time and maintenance costs, two parameters
that...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10422088
- **Project number:** 1S10OD032273-01
- **Recipient organization:** CORNELL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** MATTHEW P DELISA
- **Activity code:** S10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $349,701
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-06-15 → 2023-06-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10422088

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10422088, High-throughput label-free detection system for biomolecular interaction analysis (1S10OD032273-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10422088. Licensed CC0.

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