Liquid Handling at the HTBC
Instrument iLab Schedules: Multidrop , Wellmate ,PlateWasher ,Velocity11 VPrep, Agilent Bravo System and/or Plate Sealer.
The High-Throughput Bioscience Center (HTBC) has the ability to run microplate based small molecule screens in a fully automated mode with the Caliper Life Sciences (formerly Zymark, now part of Perkin Elmer) Sciclone ALH3000 liquid handler integrated system. For siRNA screens we have an Agilent Bravo system. We also have stand alone instrumentation with stackers for running screens in "workstation" mode.
Staccato Integrated System.
More pictures of our integrated system. (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9).
This robot can accommodate either 96- or 384-tip manifolds, enabling it to rapidly pipet volumes to 96-, 384-, and 1536-well microplates. It also has a Z8 module that contains eight independent syringe-based pipets, allowing liquid transfers to other formats (e.g. 6-well plates or racks of tubes) from either microplates or tubes. The main pipetting head includes a gripper tool that permits the movement of microplates and disposable tip boxes from any of the 20 deck positions. With this configuration, the Sciclone can add reagents to any microplate format, complete microplate replications and dilutions, and perform “hit picking” tasks (the transfer of a single sample from any position in a microplate or rack of tubes to any other microplate or tube). In addition, the Sciclone pipetting head has the ability to pick up disposable tips in any format (i.e. a subset of the tips in a 96- or 384-tip box), which allows the use of multiple tips for rapid serial dilutions. We also have integrated a V&P Scientific 384 Pin Tool that is capable of 50-200 nL transfers.
A Twister II robotic arm is integrated to the Sciclone ALH3000. The Twister II is equipped with six 40-microplate stackers and is capable of shuttling microplates to and from the Sciclone deck. The twister integrates a Titertek Multidrop dispenser and an Bio-Tek ELx406 platewasher/dispenser with the Sciclone permitting the unattended, seamless completion of complex experimental protocols, maximizing the efficiency of this liquid-handling system. Cell-based assays are further supported by the addition of a carbon dioxide incubator to the Sciclone pipetting deck. This modification enables the automated shuttling of microplates between a cell culture-compatible environment, the Sciclone deck, the Multidrop dispenser, and the ELx406 microplate washer/dispenser, making it possible to automate an entire cell-based assay. Finally, the twister robot is integrated to a Molecular Devices Analyst GT multimode plate reader. This allows for full automation of most assays.
Instrument List (links go to latest versions of instruments):
Staccato integrated system:
Sciclone ALH3000
Twister II
Liconic 198 plate CO2 incubator
Titertek Multidrop 384
Bio-Tek ELx406PUB2 platewasher/dispenser
--ELx406 with valve module for connection of up to 4 buffer solutions
Molecular Devices Analyst GT
Agilent Technologies siRNA transfection automated system: (Cool Video)
Bravo Liquid Handler
BenchCel2 Stack
BenchCel4 Stack
PlateLoc
Matrix Wellmate
Bio-Tek ELx405UV platewasher
--ELx405 Select with valve module for connection of up to 4 buffer solutions
Independent stacker based workstation instrumentation:
Bio-Tek ELx405CW platewasher with BioStack stacker (big pic) --ELx405 Select optimized for sensitive cell washing
Velocity11(now Agilent) PlateLoc plate sealer and Velocity11 VPrep with 96 tip head
Matrix Wellmate Reagent dispenser with Stackers (big pic)
Titertek and Labsystems Multidrop 384s
Downloads:
Sciclone Product Brochure
Sciclone Tech Sheet
Twister II Data Sheet
Sciclone Cell Station Data Sheet
VPrep Data Sheet
Bravo Data Sheet
PlateLoc Data Sheet, Seal Selection Guide
Multidrop Data Sheet
Biotek EL406 Washer/Dispenser Data Sheet
Biotek Plate Washers Data Sheet
Biotek BioStack Data Sheet
Matrix Wellmate Data Sheet, Instruction Manual
