DONATE MAINS

The High-Throughput Screening Core Facility (HTS Core Facility) of the Institut de la Vision is a core facility aiming at developing new screening approaches linked to the academic research and private companies.

The HTS Core Facility is dedicated to large and very large libraries screening such as small compounds, natural compounds, cDNA, and siRNA collections using original and highly valued biological models. As key points, the extensive sterility and the speed of robotic processes allow us to safely run large scale assays involving human Stemcells-derived progenitors (hESC, iPSC).

We closely work with our public and private partner to develop clear and feasible screenings projects from the design of the screening “cascade” to the plan for hit list validation.

Once the screening process is designed, the HTS Core Facility carries out the development of the related assays fulfilling the robotic standards and constraints. We take in charge the complete automation of the screening process and, finally, the screening of the in-house or client’s chemical libraries.

illustration plateforme criblage


Equipment

The Facility includes a fast and sterile automate (Agilent custom Biocel1800), an automated microscope (Perbio-Thermo-Cellomics Arrayscan) and a wide panel of standards and custom algorithms for the quantification of complex biological events, such as protein translocations or cell differentiations.

The whole system of instruments is connected to our Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) for process management and data mining.

As maximums, we able to carry out from 85,000 (384-well plates) to 362,000 tests (1536-well plates) in a single operation, and in sterile conditions.


 Technical characteristics

  • Cell-based and biochemical assays ;
  • Supports large collections and complex cell-based assays ;
  • Fluorescence intensity, luminescence, FRET, TR-FRET (TECAN F500® plate reader) and High Content Screening formats (Perbio-Cellomics ArrayScan®) ;
  • Maximum capacity/run: 246 plates (from 86000 to 378000 screened compounds per run) ;
  • Pilot screening library: FDA-approved Library (Prestwick Chemicals).


Team

Alain Chedotal
Scientific supervisor

Email: alain.chedotal@inserm.fr


Marc Lechuga
Operational manager

Marc Lechuga (M.S.) is a Lab automation and screening specialist. He has been leading several academic and industrial collaborative screening projects over the past 10 years, such as in the French stem cells institute, I-Stem, in the frame of the stemcell initiative of Roche (2010). Marc drives early research and development to hit to lead completion in collaboration with academic and private research teams which includes:

  • Screening project management ;
  • Assay development, optimization and primary screens ;
  • Effective application of High Throughput Screening technologies and other disciplines that enable industrialization of complex assays ;
  • Robotic programming ;
  • Data Analysis.

 

Email: marc.lechuga@inserm.fr


Anaïs Potey
Research Assistant
Anaïs Potey is in charge of experimental assay development and High Content Analysis/screening. She also takes part in automated screening operation and data analysis. She already experienced the development of assays with human induced pluripotent Stemcells derived progenitors or in-house purified proteins as screening substrates.

Email: anais.potey@inserm.fr