Advance Your Protein and Antibody Purification Efficiency

Dr. Brian C. Smith, Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Associate Director of the Structural Genomics Unit within the Mellowes Center for Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine, and Associate Director of the Program in Chemical Biology at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), and Karina Bursch, an MD/PhD candidate in Dr. Smith’s laboratory, recently shared their insights with Rouba Najjar, the Head of Marketing and Business Development at GenScript's Products Division. They discussed their extensive research in epigenetic ‘reader’ protein regulation of cellular signaling pathways and the challenges their lab faced in protein purification.

In this interview, Dr. Smith and Karina reveal how the AmMag™ SA Plus system has transformed their lab's workflow, significantly improving efficiency and data quality.

Let's dive into their testimonial and learn more about their experience with the AmMag™ SA Plus.

FinaBio

Rouba Najjar: "Tell us about your workflow and major challenges."

Dr. Brian C. Smith
    

Dr. Brian C. Smith: "Before using the AmMag™ SA Plus, our lab relied heavily on manual purification methods, which were time-consuming and labor-intensive. Given the abundance of disease-associated missense variants of epigenetic proteins that we desire to purify and study, we needed a more efficient system for protein purification. Manual purification was tedious and prone to errors, especially when dealing with high-throughput requirements and the need for precision in detecting protein stability and interactions."

Rouba Najjar: "What attracted you to the AmMag™ SA Plus?"

Dr. Brian C. Smith
    

Dr. Brian C. Smith: "We were searching for an automated solution that could handle large volumes and provide high accuracy. The AmMag™ SA Plus stood out due to its ability to use magnetic bead technology, which significantly speeds up the purification process. It allows us to efficiently purify and study hundreds of missense variant proteins that contain a variety of different epigenetic domains. The system's flexibility in elution volume and ability to multiplex the purification of up to 12 proteins at a time were key factors in our decision."

Rouba Najjar: "How did the AmMag™ SA Plus change your day-to-day workflow?"

Karina Bursch
    

Karina Bursch: "Since using the AmMag™ SA Plus for our purification efforts, we no longer need to allocate personnel for manual purification, which has freed up valuable time for other critical tasks. The system's high throughput ability to handle twelve 50 mL tubes simultaneously has significantly reduced our processing time. The error reduction through automation has made our work more efficient and reliable. This system has been particularly useful for reducing sample variability and ensuring consistent results across multiple purifications of the same protein."

Rouba Najjar: "Can you share a specific example or story of a notable success or achievement you've experienced as a result of using our product?"

Dr. Brian C. Smith
    

Dr. Brian C. Smith: "The AmMag™ SA Plus enhanced a project on the impacts of cancer-associated missense variants of a tumor suppressor protein on protein stability and ligand binding. The system allowed us to purify the proteins quickly and accurately, which was crucial for correlating our biophysical assays with our computational simulations. This capability has directly contributed to our overall goal to improve cancer precision medicine approaches."

Rouba Najjar: "What features or aspects of our product do you find most valuable or useful?"

Dr. Brian C. Smith
    

Dr. Brian C. Smith: "The larger volume capacity, error reduction through automation, and the flexibility in elution volume are standout features for us. The user interface is also intuitive, making it easy for our team to operate the system without extensive training."

Rouba Najjar: "How did you hear about the instrument?"

Karina Bursch
    

Karina Bursch: "Davin, a colleague in the Structural Genomics Unit, conducted extensive research to find an automated instrument that met our specific needs. After comparing several options, we chose the AmMag™ SA Plus because it was application-ready and suited our research requirements perfectly."

Rouba Najjar: "How would you describe your overall experience with our product, including any interactions with our customer support team or other services we provide?"

Karina Bursch
    

Karina Bursch: "Our overall experience has been excellent. We don't need much support because the product is robust and has a user-friendly software interface. When we reach out for assistance, the customer support team is responsive and helpful."

Rouba Najjar: "What would you say to someone considering automating their protein purification workflow?"

Dr. Brian C. Smith
    

Dr. Brian C. Smith: "If you are dealing with many protein samples, the AmMag™ SA Plus is an ideal solution for reducing errors and increasing efficiency. It's a good investment that can significantly improve your workflow. While some automated instruments may be unused on the bench, this system offers many practical benefits that justify its routine use."

More about Dr. Smith

Dr. Smith received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2003. He then received his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2008, where his research focused on the chemical mechanisms of sirtuin protein lysine deacetylases. During his graduate career he spent a brief period at Genentech in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry where he synthesized drugs that target the Inhibitor of Apoptosis family of proteins. From 2009-2014, Dr. Smith performed postdoctoral studies on nitric oxide synthases and cysteine S-nitrosation at the University of California, Berkeley and the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla. During his postdoctoral studies Dr. Smith was awarded an NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award. Dr. Smith joined the faculty at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2014.

Dr. Smith and Ms. Karina's publication featuring the use of AmMag™ SA Plus:

Bursch KL, Goetz CJ, Jiao G, Nuñez R, Olp MD, Dhiman A, Khurana M, Zimmermann MT, Urrutia RA, Dykhuizen EC, Smith BC. Cancer-associated polybromo-1 bromodomain 4 missense variants variably impact bromodomain ligand binding and cell growth suppression. J Biol Chem. 2024 Apr;300(4):107146. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107146. Epub 2024 Mar 7. PMID: 38460939; PMCID: PMC11002309.

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