Sussex Crystallization Platform for Bioscience discovery

We are seeking funding to purchase new state-of-the-art crystallization equipment for the School of Life Science's crystallisation facility to enable us to visualise and study the way in which large molecular machines control the replication, survival and growth of human cells and how the protein complexes produced by microbes exploit and disrupt human cell systems. Central to this work is the ability to capture these proteins and protein complexes in solid crystal form to allow us to take a 'snapshop' using X-rays to determine their three-dimensional shape and detailed atomic structure and how this is altered in different conditions.

Financial support is sought for the purchase of a state-of-the-art crystallisation platform to enable us to do this faster, more efficiently and more effectively. The platform platform has integrated software and comprises a crystallization robot, an advanced large capacity automated crystal imaging system and a next-generation liquid handler for crystallization screen building. The equipment will be housed in the crystallization facility at Sussex which has been highly successful in advancing our bioscience discovery research portfolio on the structure and function of macromolecular assemblies; the large number of outputs generated from this research has led to Sussex being internationally recognised as a centre of excellence for structural biology. Building on these discoveries, the facility has also enabled the growth of our translational research activities with the Sussex Drug Discovery Centre and resulted in a rapid expansion of the number of structure-led compound and drug discovery projects initiated across the School.

This new equipment will enable us to move at pace with our programmes of bioscience projects and to generate higher quality data and experimental outcomes.

We are seeking funding to purchase new state-of-the-art crystallization equipment for the Sussex University crystallisation facility. Financial support is sought for the purchase of a platform with integrated software comprising a crystallization robot with lipidic cubic phase (LCP) capability, an advanced large capacity automated crystal imaging system and a next-generation liquid handler (with microfluidic technology) for screen building. The crystallization facility at Sussex underpins our highly successful bioscience discovery research portfolio on the structure and function of macromolecular assemblies; the large number of outputs generated from this research has led to Sussex being internationally recognized as a centre of excellence for structural biology. There is now a pressing need for us to build on this success by accelerating and expanding our structural biology capability to push forward our bioscience research through the purchase of equipment with increased capacity, reliability, efficiency and functionality.

The projects enabled by the new platform span our areas of strength in Bioscience discovery in the BBSRC priority areas 'Understanding the Rules of Life' and 'Bioscience for an Integrated Understanding of Health'. Our overall objective is to obtain key mechanistic insights into the structure and function of the proteins and protein complexes that regulate fundamental cellular processes and to use these insights to improve human health across the life course through both our advanced knowledge of cell regulation and through the development of new interventions. Our projects aim to address key questions across 5 main themes:
1. Transcriptional regulation and epigenetics
2. Protein kinase regulation and function in health and disease
3. DNA replication and DNA damage and repair pathways
4. Microbiology
5. Ligand interactions and structure-led small molecule discovery