Facility for Automated High Throughput Analysis

描述(申请人提供)：基因鉴定的速度大大超过了产生功能和结构信息的速度。因此，最近的相当大的努力集中在对许多基因产品的结构和功能进行基因组规模的并行分析上。其中许多方法涉及对大样本集(10/3-10/6)的分析，只有在能够可靠地组装和操作大样本阵列的机器人系统的帮助下才能实用。现代机器人系统提供了灵活的自动化，允许大规模筛选化合物文库，全面的双杂交、合成致死和与酵母菌株有序文库的共沉淀分析，直接鉴定蛋白激酶磷酸化靶标，全面的生化分析，大规模蛋白质的克隆、突变和表达，以及对蛋白质结晶条件的详尽评估。 西北大学埃文斯顿校区的许多研究人员打算开展使用成熟的高通量方法的项目，并希望开发使用过程自动化的新方法。然而，埃文斯顿园区目前没有共享的高通量分析能力。这项提案要求为机器人设备提供资金，使西北大学的研究人员能够寻求广泛的自动化方法。我们需要一台Beckman BIOMEK FX机器人工作站，配备适当的扩展装置，以执行广泛的液体处理和细胞转移操作。我们还要求一台Genetix QPix2菌落挑选机器人来组装和Rearray订购的文库。所请求的仪器将作为Keck生物物理设备的一部分运行和管理，Keck生物物理设备是一个高度发展的核心资源，管理对西北大学各种先进仪器的共享访问。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The pace of gene identification has greatly eclipsed the rate at which functional and structural information is generated. Considerable recent effort has therefore focused on genome-scale parallel analysis of the structure and function of numerous gene products. Many of these approaches involve analysis of large (10/3 - 10/6) sample sets, and are only practical with the aid of robotic systems that can that can reliably assemble and manipulate large sample arrays. The flexible automation afforded by contemporary robotic systems permits large scale screening of compound libraries, comprehensive two hybrid, synthetic lethal, and co-precipitation analysis with ordered libraries of yeast strains, direct identification of protein kinase phosphorylation targets, comprehensive biochemical analysis, large scale cloning, mutagenesis, and expression of proteins, and exhaustive evaluation of protein crystallization conditions. A number of researchers at Northwestern University's Evanston campus intend to pursue projects that use well-established high-throughput approaches, and would like to develop novel methodologies employing process automation. However, no shared capability for high-throughput analysis presently exists at the Evanston campus. This proposal requests funding for robotics equipment that will allow investigators at Northwestern University to pursue a broad range of automated approaches. We are requesting a Beckman BioMek FX robotic workstation equipped with appropriate extensions to perform a wide range of liquid handling and cell transfer operations. We are also requesting a Genetix Qpix2 colony picking robot, to assemble and rearray ordered libraries. The requested instrumentation will be run and managed as part of the Keck Biophysics Facility, a highly developed core resource that manages shared access to a wide range of advanced instrumentation at Northwestern.