As the number of biotech drugs in development grows exponentially, lab protein and cell purification workflows are facing increasing demand. Such workflows include clone selection, cell expansion studies, and recombinant protein isolation prior to analysis. Suppliers of filtration and clarification consumables have responded by innovating to accelerate these workflows.

This month, Pall introduced the AcroPrep 24-well cell clarification and sterile filtration plate, as well as the AcroPrep 24-well 0.2-µm sterile filtration plate. Among the company's priorities was a differentiated product offering. The AcroPrep 24-well cell clarification and sterile filtration plate is Pall's first 24-well plate for protein filtration and clarification.

Image courtesy of Pall.

"It's a brand new format for Pall [and] a unique offering in the market in general. There are a few 24-well formats in the market but none even close to the specifications or to the applications that these plates are for," explained Lori Euler, global product manager, Pall Life Sciences.

Specifications include a volume of up to 7 mL and reliable recovery of greater than 95% of extracellular proteins. The plates overlay a Pall's Seitz depth media and a 0.2-µm Supor Ekpoma virus (EKV) membrane.

"What a depth media over a sterile filtration membrane allows the end-user to do is to clarify and sterile filter cell culture in one step in minutes," Euler stated. "So this is really the first time combining these high-performance membranes with this new format."

The combination is also available in other Pall devices.

In addition to one-step filtration and clarification, the workflow is compatible with 24-well cell culture formats.

"[These well-plates] are going to streamline some workflow improvements for customers who are growing [cells] in a 24-well filter plate," Euler noted. "This really speeds up cell line development and clone screening."

A more efficient workflow also allows for time and consumables savings. A traditional multistep method for 24-well culture harvesting would involve tubes, tips, filter, and syringes, with each transfer step increasing the chance of contamination as well as other drawbacks.

"The more times you go through a filter or the more times you go through any sort of device, you're introducing potential error because you're also introducing the opportunity to lose your sample," Euler noted.

Pall also launched the AcroPrep 24-well 0.2-µm sterile filtration plate for processing up to 7 mL of media, reagents, serum, or protein in sterile filtrate applications. The product's differentiating feature is that the plates are individually bagged and gamma irradiated, Euler observed. The plate also features a 0.65/0.2-µm Supor EKV membrane.

"For a customer that has already begun sample processing and they have tried to clarify their sample [and] they may only have proteins in the 24-well plate at this point, they can process through our 24-well sterile filtration plate and feel assured they have a sterile filtrate," Euler remarked.

Both plates are now available and shipping.

Tanya Samazan is managing editor of Instrument Business Outlook (IBO), a twice-monthly newsletter aimed at providing decision-makers with the latest and most complete information available on the life science and analytical instrument industry.

Disclosure: The Science Advisory Board is a sister company of IBO.

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