Protein Expression and Purification (PrEP)

PrEP areas with key equipment labeled

The PrEP service produces large amounts of high purity protein as well as quantify samples for use by investigators. It uses bacteria as well as insect expression systems. The primary use of the protein is for structural biology work. The prep service occupies about 1200 sq. ft. of the Scott Research Tower and has 2 support staff which are shared with the CSG service. Key equipment is listed below.

* Items not located in the PrEP space.

IdDescriptionImage
aÄKTA pure chromatography system allows for quick and easy customization thanks to the modular design of both the hardware and software.
bThermo Scientific™ NanoDrop™ One microvolume spectrophotometers are pushing the boundaries once again with the Thermo Scientific™ Acclaro™ Sample Intelligence Software that helps you undersatnd the quality of your sample beore you use it in downstream applications.
cThe Innova 44 incubator shaker and 44R with added refrigeration are stackable shakers that provide very broad temperature capabilities for culturing a wide variety of organisms in flasks up to 5 L. The cast iron triple-eccentric counterbalanced drive is specifically designed to support high speed applications and heavy workloads.
dThermoFisher Ultima II -20 upright freezer for local cold storage of samples.
e Sorvall Legend RT Refrigerated Benchtop Centrifuge with a wide assortment of rotors.
fThe Thermo Scientific™ Sorvall™ LYNX 6000 superspeed centrifuge features powerful technologies with breakthrough simplicity, from push-button security and application flexibility of Thermo Scientific™ Auto-Lock™ rotor exchange, to immediate rotor detection and programming of Thermo Scientific™ Auto-ID instant rotor identification, and the improved ergonomics and performance of Thermo Scientific™ Fiberlite™ carbon fiber rotors. Achieve high-throughput sample processing up to 6L capacity and up to 100,605 x g, with the flexibility to support multiple users and the evolving research needs of a shared laboratory setting, and designed for reliability for consistent results and maximum uptime.
gBioFlo 4500 is an industrial fermentor/bioreactor with the power, versatility and advanced controls for microbial, insect and mammalian cell culture, in applications ranging from research through small-scale production. A wide array of options enable configuration to your individual process requirements, without the high cost and delays normally associated with purchasing a custom fermentor.
hThe Sterilmatic is dependable, and ideally suited for laboratories, veterinary clinics, processing plants and more. It is ideal for small scale autoclaving needs.
iSanyo MIR-553 Heated and Refrigerated Incubator with accurate temperature control and uniformity used for insect cell cultures.
jThe Amersham Biosciences AKTA FPLC System is a biocompatible, high performance liquid chromatography system for the fast and easy purification of proteins. Providing flexibility and reliability in every run, the AKTA system provides a unique combination of flow configuration and methods support for all chromatographic techniques including gel filtration (size exclusion) chromatography, anion exchange chromatography, cation exchange chromatography, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, and affinity chromatography. The compact and flexible design with an expandable rack allows the use of longer chromatographic columns and automation kits. The AKTA FPLC fully meets the demands of modern purification media by utilizing AKTAdesign and UNICORN to provide reliable results and system versatility. This system features flow rates up to 20 ml/min and pressures up to 5 MPa across one working platform for scale-up production.
kThe Avestin Emulsiflex C3 is a lab scale, electric motor driven, high pressure homogeniser that rapidly reduces particles and droplets from micron to nanometer sizes.
*Peggy Sue™ lets you separate and analyze proteins by size or charge from 2-440 kDa either by immunoassay or total protein. Got small sample volumes or starting materials? No problem. She uses as little as 0.2 µg/µL of protein in just 5 µL of sample, and runs up to 96 samples in one experiment.
*Wyatt Technologies DLS (Dynamic Light Scattering) system. The DLS system can determine the number of species in solution. It is useful to prescreen protein samples/buffers to find conditions where the protein exists as a single species in solution, for example, all monomers or all dimers. Solutions with only one species have been shown to greatly increase the chance of crystallization.
*OpenSPR is a benchtop surface plasmon resonance (SPR) instrument. It provides high quality, label-free interaction analysis for a fraction of the cost of existing solutions. Our unique nano-structured sensor surface uses localized SPR (LSPR) to deliver repeatable, highly sensitive kinetic data.
*Prometheus Panta provides the highest quality data on multiple biophysical attributes of your biologics candidates. Collect information on thermal unfolding, particle sizing, and aggregation simultaneously, throughout the entire thermal ramp. Get high-resolution, domain-specific stability characterization. See unprecedented detail that unveils subtle differences between candidates, so you eliminate less stable options earlier in the pipeline.