Invitrogen Launches Bench-top Device that Simplifies Protein analysis Workflows

Invitrogen, a division of Life Technologies Corporation, has announced the introduction of the BenchPro 4100 Western processing device, a bench-top tool developed to automate processing of routine washing and incubation steps for standard laboratory procedures. This device simplifies protein analysis workflows by automating Western blotting; a laboratory technique used in a variety of life science research applications, including studies of antibodies and biological pathways.

Western blotting, also referred to as immunoblotting, is a laboratory technique used to detect specific proteins in biological samples through gel electrophoresis. After separation, proteins are transferred to a membrane where they can be identified using antibodies specific to the protein. Designed with Western blotting in mind, the BenchPro 4100 Western processing device completely automates the three-hour process of this technique.

The new device is part of a workflow that includes the BenchPro 4100 Card Processing station and the BenchPro 4100 Western cards. The cards hold the Western blot membrane to be analysed by the card processing station. The single-use, disposable cards negate experimental cross-contamination. Use of the cards practically eliminates clean-up and hands-on work, while maintaining the quality of experimental results. The card processing station is programmable to enable various Western processing protocols, and can process up to four samples in parallel with a variety of reagent combinations.

The BenchPro 4100 device builds upon the success of Invitrogen’s iBlot™ dry blotting device, a high-efficiency protein transfer machine that enables researchers to reliably blot proteins from polyacrylamide gels in seven minutes or less, without the need for additional buffers or an external power supply. The iBlot device can be used to simplify the transfer of proteins onto a membrane that can then be processed by the BenchPro 4100 device.

“Western analysis of proteins is an essential part of many scientific workflows,” said Evangeline Gonzalez, Head of Market Development for Invitrogen Molecular Biology Reagents. “The BenchPro 4100 device expands our portfolio of protein expression, isolation and analysis solutions, which aim to free scientists from much of the manual work involved in many different protein analysis applications. The combination of the BenchPro 4100 and iBlot dry blotting devices saves researchers’ valuable time, minimises operator errors, and increases consistency of results.”