As part of the New England Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases (NERCE/BEID), the Biomolecule Production Core Laboratory provides services for production of medium to large scale amounts of purified bacterial, mammalian, and viral biomolecules to investigators conducting biodefense research. This core facility is a state-of-the-art laboratory designed to produce both recombinant proteins and native carbohydrate molecules for use in structural analyses and vaccine formulation. This includes, but is not restricted to, investigators in the following categories: those making use of the Proteomics and Small Molecule Screening Core Laboratories who need to produce sufficient quantities of identified proteins to accomplish proposed screens;those developing vaccines containing bacterial carbohydrate components who need large quantities of antigen for analysis in vitro biologic assays and animal studies;and those already expressing target proteins in small scale using recombinant systems who need larger amounts of recombinant protein to expand their research. Investigators provide data demonstrating efficacy of production and purification methods as well as strains or recombinant plasmid preparations where applicable. The laboratory scales-up these protocols for production and purification of 100's of mg of the target biomolecule that is delivered to the investigator with a report outlining the methods used. Since the Biomolecule Production Core opened in 2004, we have collaborated with 19 investigators from 8 research institutions and one company in the production of over 154 different biomolecules. We have conducted 339 fermentation runs for the production of biomolecules, generating 52 Kg of bacterial cells. More than 277 purifications have been completed and we have delivered to investigators 34 Kg of cell paste, 453 mg of purified carbohydrate, and 3.1 g of various purified recombinant protein.
The NERCE Biomolecule Production Core assists investigators from any institution - public, private, academic, commercial, or governmental - conducting research on NIAID priority pathogens that require purified proteins or carbohydrates. The Core currently supports projects screening compounds for inhibition of infection, developing vaccines, testing anti-invectives, and investigating mechanisms of pathogenesis.
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