Cels has opened the North East Proteome Analysis Facility (NEPAF) in Newcastle, which will provide access to leading expertise and equipment for studying proteins.
It will be available to research and development groups and healthcare companies in the private and public sector.
It will provide information on the use of proteomics for drug discovery, development and manufacture and in the diagnosis and monitoring of disease.
The facility will also provide a range of services including protein extraction using one of the first pressure cycling homogenisers in the UK, protein separation using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-Page) and multi-dimensional liquid chromatography (MD-LC).
Separated proteins can be investigated with analytical techniques, including six different mass spectrometers and a protein arraying system.
These instruments provide capabilities for biomarker discovery, signal transduction pathway analysis, protein expression analysis, protein identification, quantification and characterisation.
Its main laboratory is located on the campus of Newcastle University and it has a second laboratory at Durham University.
NEPAF is supported by the regional development agency One North East and the European Regional Development Fund.
Cels secured GBP4m in 2007 to develop the facility, which is the only one of its kind in the north east of England.
NEPAF has a team of six scientists, including experienced practitioners in the field of proteomics.
This team has already demonstrated the capabilities of the facility to many regional pharmaceutical companies and academic research groups.
The project is now being launched into the wider bioscience network of pharmaceutical companies, contract research and biotech organisations.
NEPAF also provides proteomics services to the academic research sector and makes novel applications of proteomics available to industries outside the traditional biotech and pharmaceutical markets, such as the food and beverage sector and quality testing laboratories.
