Overview of Liquid Handling Instrumentation for High‐Throughput Screening Applications

Abstract

Liquid handling in the laboratory has unique challenges specific to the types of research being performed. The devices employed for purposes of performing liquid handling can be broken down into three general categories: bulk reagent dispensers, transfer devices, and plate washers. An overview of these types of liquid handlers, as well as common features and relevance to high‐throughput applications, are discussed in this article. Important topics such as sterility, ease of use, cost, and instrument design advantages and disadvantages are also covered. Curr. Protoc. Chem Biol. 1:43‐54. © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Luciferase Reporter Assay in Drosophila and Mammalian Tissue Culture Cells

“…Use of laboratory automation is not described for this Basic Transfection Protocol or for the Alternative Protocol, but both can be automated using standard instruments such as plate fillers and automated pipettors instead of multi-channel pipets (Rudnicki and Johnston, 2009) if multiple experimental plate are prepared for screening. Both Basic Protocol 1 and the Alternative Protocol 1 can be modified for 96 well plates along with use of stable cell lines and small molecule treatment.…”

Practical Considerations of Liquid Handling Devices in Drug Discovery

“…Plate washers functioning by positive displacement principle are also available, enabling non-contact washing with no residual volume (Rudnicki and Johnston 2009). For assays where more than one wash buffer may need to be used, plate washers with multiple dispense channels and automatic buffer switching capability are preferred to minimize both operation time and contamination.…”

“…To minimize volume variations, there should be consistency in immersion depth (Dunn and Feygin 2000). There is a minimum volume required in the source plate, and the destination plate should not be dry (Rudnicki and Johnston 2009). The dwell time that pins spend in the fluid and withdrawal speed from the liquid surface should be optimized for solutions of very different properties (e.g.…”

“…These instruments encompass different technologies for distinct purposes. In terms of application, they are broadly classified as bulk liquid dispensers, transfer devices and plate washers (Rudnicki and Johnston 2009). …”

“…Microplate washers can be categorized into two types: strip washers, which wash a single column or row of a plate at a time, and full plate washers (Rudnicki and Johnston 2009). The availability of 8-/12-/16-channel manifolds for strip washers provides both single strip washing and full-plate washing capability in the same device, but at the cost of increased wash time for full plates.…”