Isothermal Calorimetry (ITC)
The First Law of Thermodynamics states that Energy is conserved in an isolated system and cannot be created or destroyed. It is therefore possible to directly measure heat generated or consumed during chemical reactions. Isothermal Microcalorimetry is a technique that measures changes in heat directly in solutions and allows the determination of thermodynamic parameters of interactions. Microcalorimeters are capable of measuring very small amounts of heats which allow:
- confirmation of binding interactions
- determination of binding characteristics, e.g. affinity of binding, stoichiometry of binding, etc.
ITC is easy to use and does not require labelling or immobilisation strategies to probe interactions.
Useful introductions to ITC can be found here:
There are two instruments available:
Contact June Southall