High-throughput label-free detection system for biomolecular interaction analysis

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

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Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This shared-instrument grant (SIG) proposal requests funds to purchase a Sartorius Octet RED384 system for real-time, label- and microfluidics-free detection and quantification of biomolecular interactions based on biolayer interferometry (BLI). The instrument will be operated and maintained by the Cornell Biotechnology Resource Center (BRC), an integrated center of core facilities administered by the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology. The BRC will provide support from a facility director, technical experts, and an administrative team that have a proven track-record managing shared resources for the biomedical and broader life science research community. The goal is to provide a modern, user-friendly biomolecular interaction analysis system for use by 13 major users and 6 minor users, all of whom are NIH-funded investigators located at Cornell University. The instrument will be installed in the basement of Weill Hall, in close proximity to its sister facility, the BRC Imaging Core Facility. In this location, it will be co-located with existing shared resources for biophysical measurements including an Agilent Seahorse instrument for real-time cell metabolic analysis, fluorometers, and spectrophotometers that together comprise the nascent BRC Biophysics Core. The only comparable instruments on Cornell’s campus are a single-channel Sartorious Personal Assay BLItz system and a two-channel, microfluidics-based Biacore 3000 surface plasmon resonance (SPR) system, which was originally acquired in 2011 but has been rendered obsolete as the manufacturer no longer supports the instrument. Acquisition of the requested state-of-the-art system will greatly advance the capabilities of the Cornell BRC, expanding its Biophysics Core Facility to include much-needed biomolecular interaction analysis and helping to meet the needs of its NIH-funded researchers. Moreover, the instrument will make available several new features that will be of great benefit to major and minor users alike. For instance, the instrument can accommodate high-throughput assay formats using 96- and 384- well plates, thereby allowing Cornell’s NIH-funded users, for the first time, to perform large-scale binding studies or screening of libraries containing chemical compounds, small molecules or macromolecules such as proteins. The 16-channel instrument allows analysis of 16 samples simultaneously, which opens the door to serum IgG titering and epitope binning, immunological methods that are currently inaccessible with our existing BLItz and SPR systems. Even simple assays like ELISA can be streamlined on the Octet RED384 system with the added benefit of detecting low-affinity analytes often missed by conventional ELISA, minimizing handling via automated and wash-free steps, and recovering and re-using samples and reagents. Equally important, the microfluidic- free “dip-and-read” format of the Octet RED384 reduces assay time and maintenance costs, two parameters that are particularly important for a shared, multi-user resource operated within a core facility. Overall, the requested instrument is specifically tailored to the needs of a large cohort of NIH-funded major and minor users at Cornell, and should support their biomolecular interaction analysis needs well into the future.