Sussex Crystallization Platform for Bioscience discovery

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We are seeking funding to purchase new state-of-the-art crystallization equipment for the School of Life Science's crystallisation facility to enable us to visualise and study the way in which large molecular machines control the replication, survival and growth of human cells and how the protein complexes produced by microbes exploit and disrupt human cell systems. Central to this work is the ability to capture these proteins and protein complexes in solid crystal form to allow us to take a 'snapshop' using X-rays to determine their three-dimensional shape and detailed atomic structure and how this is altered in different conditions.Financial support is sought for the purchase of a state-of-the-art crystallisation platform to enable us to do this faster, more efficiently and more effectively. The platform platform has integrated software and comprises a crystallization robot, an advanced large capacity automated crystal imaging system and a next-generation liquid handler for crystallization screen building. The equipment will be housed in the crystallization facility at Sussex which has been highly successful in advancing our bioscience discovery research portfolio on the structure and function of macromolecular assemblies; the large number of outputs generated from this research has led to Sussex being internationally recognised as a centre of excellence for structural biology. Building on these discoveries, the facility has also enabled the growth of our translational research activities with the Sussex Drug Discovery Centre and resulted in a rapid expansion of the number of structure-led compound and drug discovery projects initiated across the School. This new equipment will enable us to move at pace with our programmes of bioscience projects and to generate higher quality data and experimental outcomes.