PROTEIN PRODUCTION PLATFORM (P-CUBE)

P-CUBE will provide unified procedures and robotic scripts for multigene assembly for all expression system (baculo/mammalian/prokaryotic etc.). It is to undertake the development and implementation of a TC robot and a robot for large scale DNA preps. This work package will bring together further development of expression technologies which are a sine qua non in contemporary molecular and structural biology. It will bring together the complementary expertise that is present in the partner laboratories and combine them with the aim to decisively advance the automation of eukaryotic expression. Importantly, considerable technical know-how is already present for robotics applications at all partner sites (UOXF, EMBL GRB, EMBL HD) involved in this project, including expertise for mammalian expression (UOXF) and multiprotein expression in insect cells (EMBL GRB).

Eukaryotic expression of proteins and protein complexes is of paramount significance in the post-genomic era and certainly will become increasingly important. All work described here in this project has a component of the transnational access service provided. We expect that the Joint Research Activity here proposed will significantly enhance the already existing performances of the platforms we are operating in the context of transnational access. We anticipate that the hard-ware prototypes we will develop here, along with technological advances and work-flow optimisations, will in addition set entirely new standards for eukaryotic protein structure research for the future.

The functionalities of the robots that are to be developed as prototypes are modular in conception. Therefore, EMBL GRB and EMBL HD expect to upgrade the facilities cost-effectively with those modules of the prototypes developed at UOXF, in order to specifically enhance the performance of the EMBL GRB and EMBL HD facilities.