Use of synchrotron facilities and years of experience allows the rapid determination of protein crystal structure, reducing the initial screening operation from months to weeks
The introduction last year of a full turnkey operation for screening protein structures for identification of drug candidate molecules has been so successful that the Daresbury Analytical and Research Technical Service (Darts) team is expanding its workforce to cope with increased demand.
The service includes full data collection, analysis and reporting - all, it says, in record time.
The first stage in the process is crystallisation where, after purification and characterisation, the protein-drug complex is crystallised for structure-based optimisation studies into binding and drug candidate identification.
The Darts team uses state-of-the-art robotics and its many years of experience to rapidly ascertain the conditions required for crystallisation of proteins to diffraction quality.
Structure determination uses the facilities of the Daresbury Laboratory synchrotron and the expertise of Darts scientists, to obtain a far higher resolution X-ray diffraction pattern than is possible with conventional laboratory X-ray equipment.
This allows for rapid determination of the protein crystal structure, reducing the initial screening operation from months to weeks - a highly attractive proposition in early stage drug discovery.
Invaluable to smaller biotech companies with limited resources, the Darts service is also of interest to established pharmaceutical companies who recognise the advantages of outsourcing to such a service.
Work can be tailored to specific projects in support of a company's in-house research team, helping to reduce the time and costs involved in screening drug candidate and target molecules at an early stage in the discovery process.
