Central Laboratory

The Service Unit Central Laboratory of the DRFZ was founded in the year 2000. The lab managers provide services for all research groups, the main focus being on the supply of antibodies and their conjugates. Apart from this central task, the lab managers are also responsible for infrastructural aspects concerning the DRFZ such as the estimation and acquisition of financial contributions of the liaison groups to the DRFZ infrastructure, the ordering system regarding the supply with cell culture and general materials, management of general scientific equipment, including acquisition, calculation and service in collaboration with the administration of the DRFZ and the supply of groups with basic materials, chemicals and chemical solutions for working with cell cultures.

Antibodies

The team of lab managers working in the central laboratory focuses on the production and supply of more than 1000 substances. More than 250 antibody-producing hybridomas are available at the central laboratory. Specific antibodies are isolated from cell culture supernatants, purified and, if necessary, conjugated with various conjugates, e.g. for flow cytometry. Thus, the lab managers provide the basic supply with all relevant biological tools necessary for doing FACS analysis, cell sorting, histology, ELISA, and other immunological techniques.
The huge variety of antibodies and conjugates is accessible to scientists working at the DRFZ, the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, the Charité and in other collaborating groups. The intranet folder “Online Antibodies Management” offers information on the current quantity of antibodies and conjugates available in the stock. Users are also provided with background information such as the name of the clone, concentration and titer etc.

Service

On request, the lab managers also offer their advice and assistance in case of technical problems, e.g. in the isolation and purification of proteins, fusions or fragmentation of antibodies and other proteins, the preparation of specific affinity matrices for chromatographic purposes. All preparations go hand in hand with specific quality controls. Additionally, quality control of samples regarding mycoplasma and endotoxin contamination or DNA or RNA quality is offered by the lab managers.
The field of activity of the central laboratory also includes the introduction and establishment of new methods and techniques, in particular regarding new fluorochromatic markers.