State-of-the-art equipment and expert support and training The facility is operated by highly skilled experimentalists who not only ensure that the equipment is well maintained and fully operational with minimum down time, but also provide training, project advice and will help design, plan and implement your experiments to obtain the best possible results from your experiments and data. Located in labs on the third floor of the Michael Swann Building, the EPPF offers a wide range of equipment and resources for the production, purification and characterisation of proteins, protein complexes and their ligands. Expand all Collapse all Protein Production/Purification Centralised protein production facilities. Bacterial, yeast and Baculovirus expression platforms (up to 78 x 2 litre shaker flasks; 6˚C – 42˚C (20 litre shaker-bag option for Baculovirus). 6 shaking, cooling InFors incubators for bacteria & yeast culture and shaking, cooling InFors incubators for Baculovius cultures. Small-scale mammalian expression (non-shaking). Selection of standard and specialised growth media. Purification suite – 6 AKTA Pure liquid chromatography systems, with varying options for automation and parallelisation, with a sample handling capacity from ~ 10 µl to 50 litres. Large core column library of 40 + columns (preparative and high performance IEX, HIC, GF, AF, RPC). Range of chromatography consumables and reagents in house. Access to library of expression vectors and expression strains. Automated cell lysis equipment – 2 Constant Systems 1.1 kW TS Cell Disruptors (0 – 40 kpsi with sample handling capacity from ~ 2 ml to 20 litres of cell suspension; bacteria, yeast, mammalian, plant). Biophysical Characterisation Centralised biophysical analysis platforms. Low volume MicroCal AutoiTC200 (direct measurement of thermodynamics. Multiple 96-well plate handling capacity). Viscotek SEC-MALS 20 (Multi-Angle Light Scattering; direct measurement of molar mass). BIAcore-T200 SPR (affinity & kinetic measurements for proteins, DNA, small molecules. 96/384 well plate capacity). Range of SPR consumables in house. Multimode plate reader (UV/Vis, FP, fluorescence lifetime, luminescence. 96-well plate handling capacity). Thermal Shift Assay (rtPCR instrument adapted for ligand/stability screening, 96-well plate handling capacity). DLS (Dynamic Light Scattering; Purity and oligomeric state analysis. 96/384 well plate capacity, internal liquid handling). Staff and training In addition to the wide range of high-quality instrumentation incorporated in the facility, the EPPF also provides users access to the expertise of the highly trained facility staff. The EPPF staff are responsible for the management of the laboratory and have a wide experience in molecular biology, protein expression and purification and biophysical analysis of proteins and their ligands. EPPF staff will provide fully assisted technical support and training for the infrequent user. The EPPF is also an excellent equipment resource for the experienced user. Practical training (basic and advanced) for users, ranging from individually tailored one-on-one instruction to frequent centralized training courses are offered. Full-Service work If you do not have the time to undertake the experiments yourself or do not intend to use the resources and equipment that frequently, there may be an opportunity for the EPPF to provide a full service where our experienced staff will undertake the experiments for you. Please address all service enquiries to Dr. Martin A. Wear Dr Martin A. Wear Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry and Facility Manager Edinburgh Protein Production Facility (EPPF) School of Biological Sciences Contact details Work: +44 (0)131 650 7054 Email: Martin.wear@ed.ac.uk This article was published on 2024-06-17
