Liquid handling system for protein crystallization

蛋白质X射线结晶学是一种对生物学所有领域都具有开创性重要意义的方法，因为它提供了对蛋白质和酶在生物体内如何发挥作用的分子基础的无与伦比的洞察。我们的研究小组使用这种方法来揭示细菌中多药耐药性和抗氧化机制的分子基础、病毒复制和免疫系统逃避策略、农用除草剂和细胞外基质蛋白。蛋白质和酶必须首先结晶，才能通过X射线结晶学确定其3D结构。这通常需要对数百种化学条件进行筛选，然后才能找到合适的结晶条件。目前我们人工筛选结晶条件，劳动强度大，容易出错，价格昂贵，对环境造成浪费。现代液体处理系统很容易克服这些问题，因此在加拿大和国外的大多数结构生物学实验室中司空见惯。在过去的五年里，一个重要的结构生物学研究小组已经在马尼托巴省成立。现在有三个独立的实验室，有30多名高素质的实习生、博士后和技术人员。不幸的是，我们无法使用液体处理系统来满足我们对蛋白质结晶的需求。如果没有液体处理系统，几乎不可能维持具有竞争力的结构生物学研究计划，因为人工筛选结晶条件所需的时间和费用必须投入，而我们领域的大多数其他人通过使用液体处理系统已经克服了这一负担。

Protein X-ray crystallography is a method of seminal importance to all areas of biology since it provides unparalleled insight into the molecular basis for how proteins and enzymes function within living organisms. Our research groups use this method to reveal the molecular basis of multidrug resistance and anti-oxidation mechanisms in bacteria, virus replication and immune system evasion strategies, agricultural herbicides, and extracellular matrix proteins. Protein and enzymes must first be crystallized to determine their 3D structure by X-ray crystallography. This typically requires the screening of hundreds of chemical conditions before a suitable crystallization condition is found. We currently screen crystallization conditions by hand, which is labour intensive, highly prone to error, extremely expensive, and wasteful to the environment. Modern liquid handling systems readily overcome these issues and are thus commonplace in the majority of structural biology laboratories in Canada and abroad. A significant structural biology research group has been established in Manitoba over the past five years. There are now three independent laboratories with over 30 highly qualified trainees, post-docs and technicians. Unfortunately, we do not have access to a liquid handling system to meet our demands for protein crystallization. It has become nearly impossible to sustain a competitive structural biology research program without a liquid handling system due to the time and expense that must be devoted to screening for crystallization conditions by hand, a burden the majority of others in our field have overcome with the use of a liquid handling system.