The Protein Production Facility (PPF) provides high quality and cost-effective proteins to support the translation of discoveries in molecular and cellular biology to chemical and structural biology.
The Protein Production shared resource expresses and purifies proteins for structural and biochemical characterization, high-throughput screens, and use as reagents or antigens to support the transfer of molecular biologic and genetic findings to the discovery of new anti-cancer and anti-infective drugs.
The facility is equipped to produce proteins in E. coli, insect cells or HEK293 cells, with incubators and fermenters for large scale cell growth and AKTA purification systems. The Vibrio natrigens and Pichia pastoris expression systems can also be utilized by special request. Additionally, the facility also provides ready-made, validated, proteins such as Cas9, TEV protease and anti-FLAG tag antibody.
"Working with the protein production team makes one forget how ‘slippery’ or ‘sticky’ or ‘stubborn’ some proteins can be. They can conjure up some of the most misbehaved proteins and do it at a scale that makes otherwise impossible studies possible."
Aseem Ansari
Chair, Department of Chemical Biology & Therapeutics
"Our expertise, combined with the Protein Production Facility’s specialized protein production capabilities, makes our unique work possible."
Elena Govorkova
Lead Scientist-Directing, Webby lab, Department of Host-Microbe Interactions
IMPACT
The PPF has worked with St. Jude investigators from every research department on campus, expressing and purifying over 2,400 different proteins for use in structural and biochemical characterization, high-throughput screens, and use as reagents or antigens. The Protein Production Facility aims to help investigators handle the technical complexities of making proteins for research, to enable St. Jude scientists to move faster toward making discoveries.
Our facility allows scientists who aren’t protein chemists to access high-quality proteins for their research. We’ve worked with nearly every department at St. Jude, helping with various projects from cancer research to vaccine development.
Richard Heath, DPhil
Director of the Protein Production Facility
Services
Consultation and discussion
Bacterial Expression
Baculovirus Expression
Mammalian Expression
Purification
Equipment
Shaking incubators and 10L fermenters for bacterial, insect and mammalian cell growth
Four AKTA Pure25 purification systems
Panda 2000 homogenizer for cell disruption
DynaPro III Dynamic Light Scattering plate reader for aggregation and size studies
