Automated approaches for protein expression ::
Large-scale genome sequencing has opened new opportunities for exploitation in terms of protein biochemistry and structural analyses. The major hurdle for structural biologists remains the problem of expression of large quantities of highly pure protein with appropriate solution characteristics for NMR and X-ray crystallography. At present, the delineation of successful expression constructs is, by and large, an iterative and therefore time-consuming process. Through the use of a modular and extremely flexible automated or semi-automated system under development at NIMR, we hope to be able to substantially reduce the time spent on these experiments and also to enable larger and more complex biological systems to be investigated structurally and biochemically. In addition, it is hoped that this facility will be useful for many other research programs in progress at the Institute.
Robotic system for high-throughput screening of protein expression constructs ::
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An automated robotic system for high-throughput screening of protein expression constructs. A simple flow chart of the process is shown together with snapshots of the Mitsubishi robotic arm (top) and the Hamilton liquid handling platform.
[Page last updated 24 Feb 2006]