PSL releases two electrophoresis systems

Sydney company Proteome Systems (PSL) has released two electrophoresis systems, the latest additions to its broad ProteomIQ platform for integrated high throughput proteomic analysis.

"After practising electrophoresis for over 17 years I felt it was time for electrophoresis technology to lose the 'poor-relation' tag and take on a level of sophistication that is expected in modern scientific equipment," said Ben Herbert, the inventor of the new systems and executive VP of technology development at Proteome Systems.

Herbert explained that the methodologies used in the instruments were the same as used in traditional electrophoresis systems, but the new instruments were more flexible, allowed higher throughput and multiple experiments to be carried out simultaneously.

The IsoelectIQ2 is a two-in-one hybrid system for isoelectric focusing (IEF) comprising a multi-compartment electrolyser for liquid phase isoelectric fractionation, and gel-based IPG strips. Three separate experiments can be run simultaneously under independent control.

The ElectrophoretIQ3 is a two-dimensional electrophoresis system with the capacity to perform both the isoelectric focusing step in IPG strips and the second dimension electrophoresis step in tanks as well as semi-dry blotting. Two strips trays, tanks or blots can be independently run at the same time.

Both instruments are controlled by a built-in computer with network and internet connectivity allowing the user to download the data to a network through Proteome Systems' BioInformatIQ informatics software, and monitor the progress of the experiment in real time from a remote computer.

The systems interface with other Proteome Systems technology for downstream protein digestion and mass spectrometry, and will support the new ChIP technology being jointly developed by Proteome Systems and Shimadzu, which is due to be released later this year. A full line of consumables and kits are available for use with the systems.

The company plans further add-ons and improvements to the basic systems, including upgrades to the software allowing remote control of the instrument and an improved IEF tray, currently at the prototype stage. The ultimate improvement, Herbert said, would be to integrate the first and second dimensions of two-dimensional electrophoresis together into a seamless process.

Herbert said that the systems were suitable for high-throughput applications, and were capable of running a large number of gels in a short time, but were equally suited to laboratories seeking flexible, multi-user capable systems.