Electrophoresis Gel Spot Sampling Robot

One of the most powerful tools for protein expression analysis is two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. In a two-stage process, proteins from a sample are separated into individual spots in a thin sheet of gel, usually polyacrylamide. Staining the gels, using either light-absorbing or fluorescent dyes, makes the protein spots visible. Experiments can be conducted where gel images are compared from "normal" and "experimental" samples.

Proteins of interest have to be identified, a common method to do this is:

Extract the protein spot from the sheet as a plug of gel
While still in the plug, break the protein chain (digest) into sections using a selective enzyme, usually trypsin
Measure the molecular masses of the sections using mass spectrometry (MALDI)
Using a DNA database for the relevant organism, match the spectrum of masses to those predicted from possible proteins after selective splitting by enzymatic digestion

The ProPic robot automates the task of coring protein spots from electrophoresis gels. A coring tool is driven robotically to remove the sample then to deposit it into a collection microtitre plate. An imaging system built into the robot linked to powerful database software locates all the spots of interest, samples them, and tracks their progress through subsequent processing stages.

Development activities included:

How to core gel plugs
Design of a coring tool and support system
Gel handling method and hardware
Robot calibration and operating software
Gel illumination and imaging system (Visible and UV-fluorescent)
Process and application development