Screening Platforms and Automation

Our core at the IBT and at TMC3 Helix Park is capable of performing both in vitro biochemical assays and cell-based assays in a wide variety of configurations from slides and single tubes to 1536-well microplates. All screens are automated in dispensing drugs and compounds via tips, pintools and acoustic methods. Our screening platform is built upon several key automations:

Beckman Echo 550 & Beckman Echo 655: acoustic dispensers integrated into an Access workstation with a Cytomat cell culture incubator, a 24/7 compounds addition platform.
Tecan Evo 200 work station: capable of 96, 384 tips transfer as well as pintools, integrated with Tecan multimode readers M1000pro and two 222-plates capacity Liconic incubators, RT and humidity controlled cell culture.
A dual arm Beckman-Coulter Biomek i7 with span-8 : a 45 deck position liquid handling platform equips with pin-tool capability along with 96-multichannel and 8 single channel dispensing head.
Tecan Hydrospeed microplate washer and Multidrop Combi system with stackers.
Several Multidrop Combi integrated to our automation workstations as well as stand alone.
Formulatrix Mantis: a diaphragm-based chip automated liquid dispenser from 6 to 1536 well plates with minimum dispense of 100nl.
Multimode microplate reader: BioTek Synergy Neo2with plates loader.

All cell-based growth, viability and multiplexed high-content imaging studies are performed using our primary screen platform in conjunction with our imaging systems which provide high-performance laser-based, confocal, high-content analysis for 2D, 3D, and spheroids cultures. IBT High throughput Flow Cytometry platform provides addition endpoints for suspension cells. In 2021, a new core established through CPRIT supports new drug lead optimization to evaluate cardiovascular, neural and liver toxicity potential on microfluidic and microelectrode array platforms, MLOTS.

GE Healthcare IN Cell Analyzer 6000: resides at IBT, a self-contained unit with an integrated Kindex plate handler, 90 plates capacity from Process Analysis & Automation Ltd., United Kingdom. This system is capable of collecting images from slides to 1536well plates and more that 200,000 wells per day, from 4x – 40x air lenses (field-of-view at 10×: 2.78 mm2) and is capable of automatically switching from low to high magnification without additional system setup.
Molecular Devices ImageXpress micro confocal Micro confocal microscopes is integrated with a Cytomat cell culture incubator for continuous live cell imaging 24hrs a day. The microscope has a large CMOS camera and is capable of 5 colors fluorescence imaging with 2x – 40x air lenses (field-of-view at 10×: 1.96 mm2). The platform is capable of imaging from slides to 1536well plates and is capable of collecting images from more than 200,000 wells per day.
Molecular Devices ImageXpress HT.ai: a replicate integrated Image Xpress system with 7-channel laser system with enhanced capacity of organoid and “lab on chip” model systems. Peripheral integration on this system also includes a Liconic wave incubator to support high throughput microfluidics assays using the Mimetas system.
Axion Maestro Pro: multi-well microelectrode array (MEA) and impedance system to monitor multiple cellar phenotypes without additional labels.
Zeiss multiphoton Lattice FLIM microscope: 4-channel inverted two-photon microscope with an automated stage capable of performing medium-throughput label free optical metabolic imaging (OMI).
BioRad ZE5: 5 lasers detectors Flow cytometer design for combination of throughput and superior speed and sensitivity for high throughput screening from small particles to cells via tube to 384-well plate.
MultiRad225: X-ray irradiator capable of up to 225kVp at 4kW with dynamic collimator for targeted irradiated area.