• Company/University: University of Nottingham and Excellerate Biosciences, UK
• Interviewee: Dr Steven Charlton (Professor of Molecular Pharmacology and Drug Discovery)
• Products used: PHERAstar FSX
• Method: kinetic binding assays, protein-protein interactions, TR-FRET

Steven Charlton is professor of Molecular Pharmacology and Drug Discovery at the University of Nottingham and co-founder of Excellerate Bioscience. He has a lot of experience in kinetic assays for membrane proteins and in protein-protein interactions. For these applications, he mainly uses time-resolved FRET assays. The PHERAstar FSX is extensively used in the lab. It has great flexibility and is particularly good at detecting TR-FRET assays. A crucial feature is the fast read frequency that the reader can achieve, especially with the TRF excitation laser. This results in a dramatic time saving when compared to normal lamp excitation systems and allows to get far more data points on each kinetic curve. Another useful feature is the ability to simultaneously add reagents to the sample and read. This means that information can be captured right from the very beginning of a kinetic reaction.