Bands containing proteins of interest can be excised from gels either by hand (for example, using a razor blade) or with the help of automated spot cutting systems, such as those commonly used in 2-D gel-based proteomics workflows. The proteins in the bands can then be either eluted from the gel piece (for example, by electroelution) or subjected to downstream processing (for example, tryptic digestion) while still in the gel.

Automated spot cutting instruments (spot cutters) are used to excise protein spots of interest from gels and to transfer them to microplates or other vessels for further analysis. Bio-Rad’s EXQuest™ spot cutter locates and excises protein bands or spots from 1-D and 2-D gels or blots and loads them into 96- and 384-well microplates or 96-tube racks for downstream processing and analysis.

The EXQuest spot cutter is designed to be both robust in construction and simple to operate, reducing manual labor and improving throughput of protein spots for analysis. It consists of an enclosure, an imaging system, a fluidics system, robotics, sensors, a cutting head, a gel tray, a microplate rack, and a wash station.

Versatile Excision Capability

The EXQuest spot cutter allows use of any common proteome separation and staining methods:

Freestanding 2-D and 1-D SDS-PAGE gels

Plastic- or glass-backed 2-D and 1-D gels

PVDF and nitrocellulose membrane blots

Gels or membranes stained for proteins with visible stains (such as silver and Coomassie blue stains) or fluorescent stains (such as Flamingo™ fluorescent gel stain and SYPRO Ruby protein stain)

Big Performance on the Bench

Accommodates any commercially available large or mini format gel or PVDF membrane blot in a small bench footprint

PDQuest software automatically selects spots in order from lowest to highest amount of protein, minimizing the chance of carryover contamination from spot to spot

Quantity One software provides convenient tools for 1–D gel cutting

Cutting tip produces precise cuts without damage or distortion on gels or PVDF membranes

Cuts up to 4 gels at a time at up to 600 spots per hour

System accuracy of ±0.1 mm ensures accurate excision of even small, closely grouped spots

Error-free data capture from image analysis to mass spectrometry

Built-in wash wells provide customized tip washing between cuts for extra contamination control

Quick-change settings to switch between UV and visible light modes

Compatible with ProteomeWorks™ and ProteomeWorks Plus spot cutters