Automated Peptide Synthesiser

肽是氨基酸的短链，可以组织成具有独特理想的化学和生物特性的大而复杂的结构。由于这些原因，肽或肽衍生物已广泛用于生物医学研究作为探针（在体外或细胞内研究基本生物过程）；作为药物（作为药物和疫苗的主要成分），或作为具有独特特性（例如粘合剂）的植入物。帝国理工学院各部门的研究人员在所有这些领域开发和使用具有特定应用的肽。应用的例子包括：(1)开发新工具，以帮助改善疾病（如癌症）的诊断和治疗方式。(2)新材料的开发，如粘合剂，可以帮助修复衰竭的心脏，骨组织基质。(3)开发用于药物输送的新型设备，或将搭桥手术期间的风险降至最低的特定应用。所要求的自动多肽合成器PurePep Chorus将能够同时平行合成多达六种多肽。因此，它将取代人工合成肽的费力和耗时的程序，从而节省宝贵的工作人员时间。重要的是，它将减轻人工合成肽过程中由于暴露于过敏原和有毒化学物质而带来的健康风险。无法获得内部最先进的肽合成器是帝国理工学院研究进展和扩展的关键瓶颈，上面描述了这些例子。PurePep合唱团将被安置在白城迈克尔·尤伦爵士中心（Sir Michael Uren Hub）的生物纳米制造设施中，帝国理工学院的学者以及外部学术和工业用户都可以使用。

Peptides are short chains of amino acids that can be organised in large and complex structures with uniquely desirable chemical and biological properties. For these reasons, peptides or peptide derivatives have been extensively used in biomedical research as probes (to investigate fundamental biological processes in vitro or in cells); as drugs (being main constituents of drugs and vaccines), or as implants with unique (e.g., adhesive) properties. Researchers across departments at Imperial College develop and use peptides with specific applications in all these areas. Example of application include:(1) The development of new tools to help improve the way diseases, such as cancer, are diagnosed and then treated. (2) The development of new materials such as adhesives that can help repair failing hearts, bone tissue matrices. (3) The development of novel devices for drug delivery, or specific applications such as minimising risks during bypass surgery.The requested automated peptide synthesiser, PurePep Chorus, will enable the parallel synthesis of up to six peptides simultaneously. As such It will free up valuable staff time by replacing the laborious and time-consuming procedure of manual peptide synthesis. Importantly it will alleviate the health risks associated with the process of manual peptide synthesis due to the exposure to allergens and toxic chemicals. The non-availability of an in-house state-of-the art peptide synthesiser is a key bottle neck in the progression and expansion of research at Imperial, examples of which are described above. The PurePep Chorus will be housed in the managed Bionanofabrication facility in the Sir Michael Uren Hub at White City and will be accessible to academics across Imperial College as well as external academic and industrial users.