Improve the Accuracy of Dispensing Proteins

Phoenix RE (Rigaku Edition) protein drop setters will now be equipped with a new nano-dispense head to improve the dispense accuracy of proteins, washing ability and expand the service life of the dispense needles.

These improvements are due to a flow through design that, combined with a pump and two reservoirs, allows for a significantly improved washing of the needles. With this new design, the ARI nano, in addition to air backed dispensing, adds the ability to perform liquid backed dispensing – that delivers superior accuracy for both highly viscous proteins and dispenses volumes below 100 nl. The nano-dispense head can be configured with up to 4 channels.

The Phoenix RE is a modified Art Robbins Instruments Phoenix liquid handler that is used to set up protein crystallization plates. Featuring a positive displacement 96 channel head, to dispense the screens, and a non-contact nano dispenser to dispense the protein, the Phoenix RE employs an accurate closed loop motion to produce the drop on drop dispenses required for protein crystallography.

Protein crystals are required for protein crystallography, which is a core structural biology technique that uses X-ray Diffraction (XRD) to obtain three dimensional (3D) structures of proteins and protein complexes. Protein structures provide detailed insight into fundamental biological processes in support of understanding disease mechanisms and the rational drug design process. Today, 44 organizations worldwide rely on the Phoenix RE to set up protein crystallization experiments, including academic, government, pharmaceutical and biotech companies. When incorporated into a Rigaku CrystalMation system, the Phoenix RE can be used for fully automated high throughput protein crystal production.