Turnkey Solution to Protein Crystallization Sample Prep

Crystallization is one of the most critical and difficult steps in the determination of protein structures, or in ascertaining drug interactions with protein targets. Although sophisticated, high-throughput methods are now available for protein crystallization, the preparation and dispensing of liquids has been time consuming and labor intensive.

ProCrys 2002 by Zinsser Analytic GmbH (Frankfurt, Germany) is a turnkey solution for high-throughput sample preparation for protein crystallization. It combines a liquid handling platform for the fast preparation of the buffer solutions, a low-volume dispenser for the preparation of the crystallization plates, and a plate sealer to prevent evaporation.

To start, buffer solutions are prepared; the source plates, standard deepwell plates are filled with stock solutions with the help of Zinsser sorting software. The software not only calculates the required volumes for a given target concentration but it also saves time by optimizing the entire dispensing process.

The crystallization plate is prepared by moving it to the integrated Honeybee platform from Digilab GenomicSolutions (Ann Arbor, MI, USA) where the buffers are distributed with a 96-well head and the protein can be dispensed with up to three separate protein channels. In order to prevent evaporation, a plate sealer has been integrated sealing the deepwell plates as well as the crystallization plates.

Zinsser Analytic is a supplier of dispensers, glassware, microplates, pipettes, pumps, syringes, vials, scintillation materials, software and hardware systems for flexible modular robotic instrumentation for liquid and powder handling applications in biotechnology, drug discovery, combinatorial chemistry, screening, and synthesis.


Related Links:
Zinsser Analytic
Digilab GenomicSolutions