System automates gel casting to user-defined gradients, eliminating the variability and expense of hand-poured gels along with their short shelf lives
NextGen Sciences has announced the global launch of the a2DEoptimizer.
The pioneering system is said to be the first to automate gel casting to user-defined gradients, and has been designed to improve manual two-dimensional electrophoresis by increasing reproducibility and enhancing the resolution of protein separations.
The development of the system was a spin-out from the a2DE technology, the company's fully automated two-dimensional electrophoresis system, which has the capability of casting its own gels for second dimension separation.
"We found that some researchers wanted to use this gradient gel casting capability to improve the resolution of target proteins or total proteomes, but wanted to apply this to their existing electrophoresis formats.
"Most researchers are also moving to larger gel formats (26cm by 20cm) to increase resolution. "However, pouring gradient gels by hand leads to considerable variability, and large pre-cast gels are expensive, have short shelf lives and are available with only a limited choice of gradients.
"We have designed the a2DEoptimizer to allow researchers to create customised gradient gel profiles to meet their exact requirements.
"Once the gradient has been designed and stored on the computer, the gels are then cast automatically by the system, giving the same result every time that particular profile is recalled" said Paul Orange, senior product manager at NextGen Sciences.
The bench-top system is PC-controlled and can run high-speed IEF at up to 10,000V, second dimension gel tanks, and will cast gradient gels of any dimension.
The a2DEoptimizer can be used with a wide range of commercially available flatbed IEF units and second dimension gel tanks.
In addition, NextGen Sciences has developed its own suite of 2D equipment to complement the a2DEoptimizer, including the autocast12 large format multi-gel caster, a flatbed IEF system, and an SDS-PAGE running tank.
The system uses traditional gel chemistries referenced in thousands of scientific publications and is supplied with ready-to-use reagents.
The first public viewing for the a2DEoptimizer in Europe will be HET Instrument in the Netherlands, 1 November 2004.
