Monash University, in the Australian state of Victoria, becomes home to 12-module protein production system which, in combination with forthcoming synchrotron, will significantly boost science
What is said to be the world's largest parallel protein purification workstation is to be housed at Monash University, improving Australian scientists' abilities to study the molecular structure and function of proteins.
The Aktaxpress from GE Healthcare allows up to 48 proteins to be produced simultaneously, giving Australian scientists the materials they need to conduct life-saving protein-based research in Australia.
Victorian Bioinformatics Consortium scientific director and Monash University researcher James Whisstock said protein research currently focused on understanding how proteins function or dysfunction, and in particular understanding the atomic structure of these molecules.
"If we understand the molecular shape of a protein, we can begin to understand how it works," he said.
"Heart disease, cancers, osteoporosis and immune deficiencies are just some examples of illnesses that manifest through the actions of proteins, so knowing how proteins function not only gives us a better understanding of these illnesses, but also points the way to effective therapies.
"Currently our ability to study the molecular structure and function of proteins is constrained by the rate at which we can produce proteins for analysis".
The workstation is closely linked to the state of Victoria's A$180 million Australian Synchrotron facility due to open in 2007.
Australia is currently one of the only developed nations in the world without its own synchrotron, a modern circular particle accelerator used to study the atomic composition of molecules such as proteins.
"The more we can produce, the more we can study, the more we can learn," said Dr Whisstock.
"That's why the marriage of technologies like protein production and the synchrotron is so exciting.
Parallel protein production will give us the means to produce large amounts of different proteins in a high-throughput fashion, and the synchrotron will allow us to rapidly collect diffraction data right here in Australia, something that was simply not possible before".
The Aktaxpress is a modular system developed for the high-throughput purification of protein samples, automating the multi-step purification process to yield highly purified protein.
"At present one scientist basically produces one protein at a time," explained Dr Whisstock.
"The process involves growing bacteria in the lab, disrupting the cells, washing the samples and finally extracting and purifying the proteins, and can take up to a week to complete.
"Owing to equipment and personnel constraints we often have to wait for one production run to end before we can start another one.
"That's where the Aktaxpress comes in: it allows us to produce 48 different proteins in parallel, in genuine production scale.
A typical scientist would be hard pushed to produce large scale quantities of 48 different proteins in a year, let alone in the eight hours it takes for the Aktaxpress to do its work." Monash has invested in a 12-module Aktaxpress system, the largest configuration of its kind anywhere in the world.
The equipment has been funded through an Australian Research Council Lief awarded to Whisstock, Steve Bottomley, Professor Michael Berndt, Jamie Rossjohn, all from biochemistry and molecular biology at Monash, Professor Ben Adler, microbiology at Monash, Professor Jim McCluskey (microbiology and immunology) and Geoff Howlett (biochemistry and molecular biology and the rco21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute) from the University of Melbourne, and Ray Norton at the Walter and Eliza Health Institute.
It will provide enormous capacity for the Arc Centre for structural and functional microbial genomics and the National Health and Medical Research Council programme for protease systems biology.
"Big science is done on a big scale overseas, and the Aktaxpress gives us the means to compete on a world scale and be involved in major projects such as structural genomics initiatives," said Whisstock.
Peter Simpson, general manager Australasia, GE Healthcare Biosciences, said the system would not only improve Australia's medical resources, but would be useful in other areas such as agriculture.
"Numerous vaccine development programmes also require the production of proteins," said Simpson.
"Finding vaccines for major livestock diseases, for example, can have a direct impact on Australian farmers, the quality of Australian produce, and the Australian economy as a whole.
"The uses for protein analysis are many and varied.
"GE Healthcare is committed to working with our customers to further the research being done in finding protein-based solutions across multiple applications, medical or otherwise."
