Stem Cell Based Drug Discovery Facility
The Stafford Fox Drug Discovery Facility (SF-DDF) at Murdoch Children's Research Institute offers an automated platform for high throughput/high content drug screening of patient’s induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC) derived tissues.
About us
The objective of the Drug Discovery Facility is to enable researchers to progress in vitro disease models towards high throughput screening models for the identification of novel drug-like compounds. We contribute with drug screening campaign design, assay development and validation and drug screening for the identification of new drug candidates for the treatment of inherited diseases using human cells and tissues.
Screening Platform
The facility has a world-first platform that aims to accelerate drug discovery. Our platform is fully integrated consisting of an automated liquid handling system (Fluent1080, TECAN), an automated rotary incubator (Cytomat5, ThermoFisher) and a high-speed confocal-based imaging system (CV8000, Yokogawa). This integrated platformis tailored to enable live high throughput screening of large human organoids.
Therapeutics Innovation Australia
The Drug Discovery Facility was established through a generous donation from the Stafford Fox Medical Research Foundation. It is an NCRIS Therapeutics Innovation Australia (TIA) consortium facility. Find out more about TIA Access Vouchers.
The Facility is also supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation reNEW Center for Stem Cell Medicine (NNF21CC0073729).
Collaborators: Compounds Australia
Contact us
For more information, please contact:
Dr Alejandro Hidalgo Gonzalez
Team Leader / Drug Discovery Facility Manager
Phone: show phone number
Email:
show email address
Meet the team
Equipment
Liquid handling system: Fluent 1080, Tecan
The Fluent1080 is a customised liquid handling platform for high throughput for protein coating, cell seeding, media changes and drug dispensing in a sterile environment.
Technical features:
- HEPA Hood for sterile cell culture
- Flexible 8 channel liquid handing arm (volume= 200nl-5ml)
- 384 Multichannel liquid handling arm
- 96 head adapter extension
- Wash block for 96 tips and washing station for 8 channel arm
- Gripper arm for microplate handling
- Fume exhaust
- Tilting carrier
- Shaker
- Bar code scanner
Spinning disk confocal system: CV8000, Yokogawa
The CV8000 is a spinning disk confocal microscope fitted with four cameras for high-speed imaging, allowing acquisition of all four lasers simultaneously. The system is also equipped with an airtight cell incubator for long-term image acquisition. The system’s also equipped with an automated pipetting arm for the addition of drug compounds during imaging for acute response measurements.
Technical features:
- CO2 and temperature control for extended time-lapse acquisition
- Laser and software autofocus
- Fours CMOS cameras
- Four lasers (405nm, 488nm, 568nm and 640nm)
- Six objectives lenses available for automated imaging:
- Dry Lenses: 4x, 10x (long working distance), 20x and 40x
- Immersion Lenses: 40x (water) and 60x (water)
- Dispensing unit for live drug addition
- Automated acquisition and data processing software
Automated rotary incubator: Cytomat5, ThermoFisher
The Cytomat5 is an automated incubator with a capacity to house 105 96 or 384 well plates. Our Cytomat5 is fully integrated to our CV8000 confocal imaging system for automated programmable imaging. It is also integrated into our liquid handling system (Fluent1080) for scheduled automated media changes and drug addition.
Sample handler: Precise Flex400, Precise Automation
The Precise Flex is a sample handler that facilitates plate transfer. It has been integrated to transfer plates between our imaging platform, liquid handling station and incubator to facilitate automated and schedule screening and sampling.
Data handling and Data analysis – CellPathfinder, Yokogawa
Data is automatically backed up onto our storage servers for redundancy.
Services
Services provided by the Drug Discovery Facility are highly specialised and customised to each screen. Our services can be accessed in two ways, as a user-based project or as an assisted project.
User-based projects rely on the lead researchers to operate the equipment following induction training.
Assisted projects are executed by the Drug Discovery Facility staff on behalf of the researchers.
Each project will require one, multiple, or all of the following activities:
Image-based phenotypic drug screening
- 2D and 3D High throughput bright field and fluorescence imaging
- 2D and 3D High throughput bright field and fluorescence imaging with drug dispensing
- Data processing, QC and analysis
High throughput liquid handling
- Automated plate protein coating
- Automated plate cell seeding
- Automated media changes
- Automated drug dispensing
- Post-processing sample preparation and immunostaining
Data processing and analysis
- Data storage
- Image processing and algorithm design
- Data report
Share //
