Services

Instrumentation and services are available to all researchers inside and outside of the university.

Researchers from the Northwestern University and the University of Chicago are provided internal rates as all UIC users. All other users can access services but at an external academic or external non-academic rate, which is determined using subsidy and market rates.

 

All users must register their funds by creating a RRC account before requesting service or scheduling equipment usage.

 

All users are responsible for their own laboratory safety training to be current during each use of the core facilities.

Please email the core director @ kratia@uic.edu to schedule a meeting as well to receive a quote.

High-throughput screening and post-screen hit validation: Heading link

Each HTS project is unique and will be managed, scheduled, and run by the core director (kratia@uic.edu). We require an initial consult for all new projects. Examples of high-throughput assays run by our facility include:

Biochemical assays:

  • Protein-protein interactions (Alphascreen)
  • Enzyme-based assays, timecourse and endpoint measurements (fluorescence intensity, TR-FRET, absorbance)
  • Protein-ligand (fluorescence polarization)
  • Fluorescence thermal shift

Cell-based assays:

  • Reporter gene assays (fluorescence intensity, luminescence, absorbance)
  • Cell viability assays (luminescence)

Available compound libraries include:
FDA-approved drugs and bioactives

  • Prestwick collection (1,200 compounds)/li>
  • Microsource Spectrum collection (3,000 compounds)

Targeted libraries

Natural products (proprietary to UIC)

  • 4,000 fractionated extracts (freshwater/marine bacteria c/o J. Orjala and B. Murphy labs)

Diverse, drug-like sets (commercial)

  • 100,000 compounds from the Chembridge DiverSet and Express-Pick collections (includes the CNS set (20K compounds))
    http://www.chembridge.com/screening_libraries/
  • Maybridge HitFinder (14,400 compounds)
    http://www.maybridge.com/Images/pdfs/MB_HitFinder.pdf
  • ChemDiv UICentre library (10,000 compounds)
    A 10K subset of SMART ChemDiv library that (1) is pruned for known frequent hitters (PAINS and alike), (2) is balanced in terms of diversity of chemical scaffolds, (3) typically used by medicinal chemists functional groups are equally represented, (4) has several representative analogs for each of the scaffolds in the library.
    www.chemdiv.com/products/screening-libraries/smart-library/
  • ChemDiv UICentre PPI library (10,000 compounds)
    PPI-biased library consisting of a subset of 10,000 compounds selected from the 210,000 compound ChemDiv PPI library. Filtered to remove PAINS.
  • LifeChemicals antimicrobial set (25,000 compounds)
    25K subset of LifeChemicals Antibacterial and Antiviral libraries
    http://www.lifechemicals.com/services/targeted/general

NCI libraries

Approved Oncology Drug Set: This plated set contains most current FDA-approved anticancer drugs. The set consists of 129 agents and is intended to enable cancer research, drug discovery and combination drug studies.

Diversity Set V: 1593 diverse compounds https://dtp.cancer.gov/organization/dscb/obtaining/available_plates.htm

Mechanistic Set III

High-throughput protein crystallization (email kratia@uic.edu to schedule)

Please note, Investigators from the Northwestern University and the University of Chicago are provided internal rates as all UIC users. All other users can access services but, at either external academic or external non-academic rate.

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Crystal plate assembly (Greiner 609820) is performed by the LiHa arm of our liquid handling robot. Each plate holds 96 crystallization conditions, with 3 sample positions per well. Typical screens require 110 uL of each protein sample (1 uL protein + 1 uL mother liquor setup). Screens available in the facility include:

  • Qiagen JCSG+
  • Qiagen JCSG Core I-Core IV
  • Qiagen PEGs
  • Qiagen PEGs II
  • Qiagen Classics
  • Qiagen Classics II
  • Qiagen ProComplex
  • Qiagen PACT
  • Hampton PEG/Ion