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Membrane Protein Production, MPL, Harwell, UK

The Membrane Protein Laboratory (MPL) at the Research Complex Harwell is a research and training user facility open to scientists from laboratories anywhere in the world that are interested in the Structural Biology of Membrane Proteins. The laboratory combines recently developed high throughput technologies for membrane protein production with sample preparation for crystallisation and cryo-electron microscopy. As a Wellcome funded support facility within Diamond Light Source we are uniquely placed to utilise the latest state-of-the-art developments in X-ray diffraction data collection and cryo-electron microscopy.

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Instruct Centre

Harwell Campus

Service/Technology Contacts

User Guide

Protein Production

High quality membrane protein samples are essential for structural biology.  Our protein production platform can support visiting scientists to clone, express and purify 48-96 membrane protein constructs on a small scale.  We provide the facilities to utilise protein expression in E.coli, yeast, insect and mammalian cells.   This is coupled to a high-throughput screening platform to rapidly identify the most suitable conditions for membrane protein purification.  Our expression platform has recently been enhanced through the work of an Instruct-ULTRA post-doctoral research associate who developed new protocols and enhanced workflows for membrane protein production in mammalian cells.

Protein Production Workflow

Visiting scientists can enter the workflow at any point providing protein constructs are compatible with our screening platform.  There is no requirement for fluorescent tags but this will limit some of the optimisation that can be done during expression screening stage.   The membrane protein expression screening platform allows an initial purification on a small scale while membrane protein purification and formulation allows scientists to screen a wider range of conditions including but not limited to detergents, amphipols, membrane scaffold proteins (MSPs), SMALPS, lipids, pH and salts. Please contact the facility for more information.