University of Helsinki - Research Programs - Biomedicum Corefacilities: Protein Production and Purification (Äkta Avant FPLC & WAVE Bioreactor)

Michael Jeltsch
PhD, Adjunct Professor
Academy Research Fellow
michael@jeltsch.org

Research Programs Unit
Room B318a
P.O. Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)
00014 University of Helsinki
Finland
phone +358 2 941 25514
fax +358 2 941 25510

Olli Ritvos
MD/PhD, Adjunct Professor
Instruct Protein production services facilitator
olli.ritvos@helsinki.fi

Medicum, room B132b
P.O. Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
phone +358 2 941 25284

Arja Pasternack
PhD, Senior Researcher
Protein production specialist
arja.pasternack@helsinki.fi

Medicum, room B132b
P.O. Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
phone +358 2 941 25284

Affiliations

From the beginning of 2016, the facility will run as an official core facility of the medical faculty. Every new user needs to be registered and receive a minimum of 1 hour training. Training, use and purified proteins are free for all collaborative work.

Internal academic customers
(Helsinki University (HU)
& HU Hospital

External academic
customers

Non-academic
customers

Equipment use*
Äkta Avant	32€/run	48€/run	96€/run
WAVE reactor	142€/run	213€/run	426€/run
Incubator space	0.26€/flask/d	0.39€/flask/d	0.78€/flask/d
*This does not include buffers and columns. Disposable columsn are provided by the customer. Maximum length of a run is 24 hours for the Äkta Avant and 7 days for the WAVE reactor. Longer run times are charged proportionally.

Training and assisted use
Training*	24€/h	36€/h	72€/h
Assisted use	24€/d	36€/d	72€/d
Course**	2000€	3000€	6000€
* Training sessions are usually 1.5 hours. Pricing is independet of the amount of participants, but the maximal anumber is limited to four. E.g. 1.5 hours of training cost 32€ (Äkta run) + 1.5x24€ (training) = 68€ for an internal academic customer. ** Five-day course (~4h training/day). We purify a protein via three columns (affinity, IEX/HIC/etc., gel filtration) and analyze the results via PAGE + Western/Coomassie/Silver staining. Maximal number of participants: 8. We are purifying one protein for each group of 4 participants.

Columns
gel filtration 30cm, fast desalting	8€/d	12€/d	24€/d
gel filtration 60cm	12€/d	18€/d	36€/d
IEX an others	20€/d	30€/d	60€/d
Column and/or machine cleanup*	24€/h	36€/h	72€/h
* Columns are provided in the appropriate storage buffer (e.g. 20% ethanol for gel filtration columns). After use, they need to be returned clean and in the same buffer. Users are also expected to flush the tubing of the machine after use in order to prevent salt depositions or microbial growth inside the device. If we have to clean the device or clean or buffer exchange rented/borrowed columns because the user failed to do so, we will ask for a fee as this takes quite some time and effort. Cleaning by the user does not include the cleaning-in-place (CIP) with (e.g. 0.5 M NaOH for gel filtration columns), which we do regularily every 10 runs.

Purified proteins (standardized production service*)

human VEGF-A165 50µg (20µl in PBS), untagged, without carrier protein, sterile, produced in Drosophila S2 cells 150€ 200€ 400€
human ΔNΔC-VEGF-C 50µg (in PBS), untagged, without carrier protein, sterile, produced in Drosophila S2 cells 150€ 200€ 400€

Coming soon:

human pro-VEGF-C 50µg (in PBS), untagged, without carrier protein, sterile, produced in Drosophila S2 cells 300€ 400€ 800€

* This service is provided for proteins, for which we have performed the production and purification many times and for which the production and purification procedure has been published. We perform extensive purity and activity assays on these proteins before we hand them over to our customers.

Purified proteins (customized production service)
We are offering the production of recombinant proteins as a full service (starting from cloning of the expression construct to the final purified protein). We offer two standard expression systems: stably transfected insect cells (Drosophila S2, Sf9 or HighFive) and stably transfected mammalian cells (CHO or 293F). Our standard purification consists of two-steps: affinity purification (via a polyhistidine tag or and antibody Fc tag) and gel filtration. However, we recognize the need of non-standard procedures for many proteins and therefore we offer also customized solutions (different vectors, different expression hosts, different purification schemes). The project and the invoicing are tied to four milestones: Expression vector cloning Generation of stable cell line Protein production Protein purification While milestones 1 and 2 have a fixed price, milestones 3 and 4 depend on the amount of protein required. It is impossible to predict with certainty in advance the expression levels for any individual protein. We determine expression levels for the protein of interest in the cell lines that we establish to be able to predict the achievable amounts and associated costs. For secreted expression in CHO cells, levels can be up to 200 mg/l (but some proteins don't even reach 1/1000th of that amount). If you need fixed pricing ahead of time, we produce according to best effort. For details, please contact us!

Reservations for the equipment are done online. Everybody within the Helsinki University network can view the reservations, but in order to make a reservation, you need to login.