Recombinant Protein Production, Characterization, and Crystallography Core Instrumentation & Technology

The following are major instruments used to provide services in the Protein and Monoclonal Antibody Production Core.

AKTA pure is a flexible and intuitive chromatography system for fast purification of proteins, peptides, and nucleic acids from microgram levels to tens of grams of target product.

Two MP measures molecular masses of proteins and biomolecules using mass photometry. Characterize protein oligomerization interactions fast.

STEMCELL Technologies automated ClonaCell® EasyPick Platform merges the rapid selection and cloning of cells using ClonaCell® media with Hamiltons 30 years of experience in robotics to meet the needs of cell line development for biologics production. The core uses automated high throughput technologies for antibody production.

The MicroCal Auto-iTC200 is a fully automated, low volume, highly sensitive isothermal titration calorimeter. It delivers direct, label-free in solution measurement of all binding parameters in a single experiment. Applications include characterizing molecular interactions of small molecules, proteins, antibodies, nucleic acids, lipids, and other biomolecules. ITC (Isothermal Titration Calorimetry) can be used to determine binding affinities and kinetics of protein and ligand (e.g., DNA, proteins, lipids, compounds) interactions.

AUC (Analytical Ultracentrifugation) for determining macromolecular assembly/oligomerization constants.

Octet systems enable real-time, label-free analysis for the determination of kinetics, affinity, and antibody/protein quantitation. Based on Bio-Layer Interferometry (BLI), this fluidics-free instrument platform offers a number of advantages over traditional label-free techniques like Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR). OCTET (BLI; Bio-Layer Interferometry) for determining binding affinities and kinetics of protein and ligand (e.g. DNA, proteins, compounds) interactions.

Differential Scanning Fluorimetry (DSF) using Roche thermal cycler for high throughput protein stability measurements and inhibitor screening.

Size-Exclusion Chromatography Multi-Angle Light Scattering (SEC-MALS) for sample purity, molecular weight composition and oligomerization state determination.

RedShift MMS is an IR spectroscopy system that provides high-resolution insight into protein and RNA secondary structure. Microfluidics modulation enables direct, label-free detection of biomolecules and can be used to validate protein and RNA structural prediction via Alphafold or other prediction techniques. RedShift MMS is sensitive to structural changes caused by ligand binding, protein conformational change, or aggregation. The MMS system is also equipped with thermal ramping for insights into thermal stability of proteins or other biomolecular interactions.

All RedShift MMS data collection and analysis will be conducted as assisted use ($100 per hour). Instrument usage is managed through iLabs. 

Automated liquid handling robot capable of dispensing nanoliter volumes for crystallization setups. Crystal growth screening uses hanging-drop or sitting-drop vapor diffusion methods in 96-well plates.

Automated imaging system for protein crystallization screening. It can be programmed to inspect a large variety of tray formats using visible, MFI/UV options.