In-Gel Protein Digestion on the MICROLAB STAR

This application note demonstrates the automation of a process that is routinely performed manually in the laboratory : in-gel protein digestion preceding mass spectrometric identification/characterization of electrophoretically-separated proteins. This process includes band/spot cleaning, reduction/alkylation of cysteines and tryptic digestion. The main motivation for automating the process was to gain stand-alone time through developing a fully automated protocol that also allows an increase of throughput.