<p>The reversible phosphorylation of proteins is central to regulating most aspects of cell function. Malfunction in this critical cellular process have been implicated to cause diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. Recent advances in mass spectrometry have made it possible to study this important post translational modification on a proteome-wide scale. However, to be able to do so, enrichment of phosphorylated peptides is required. Pairwise comparison of individual steps in an enrichment procedure and simultaneous improvement of data analysis resulted in a protocol which allowed high confidence identification of 2,131 unique phosphorylated peptides from 1,026 proteins. Thereby not only establishing a working protocol for phosphopeptide enrichment in the Griffin Lab, but also generating the largest list of proteins phosphorylated under normal conditions in yeast to date.</p>

The reversible phosphorylation of proteins is central to regulating most aspects of cell function. Malfunction in this critical cellular process have been implicated to cause diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. Recent advances in mass spectrometry have made it possible to study this important post translational modification on a proteome-wide scale. However, to be able to do so, enrichment of phosphorylated peptides is required. Pairwise comparison of individual steps in an enrichment procedure and simultaneous improvement of data analysis resulted in a protocol which allowed high confidence identification of 2,131 unique phosphorylated peptides from 1,026 proteins. Thereby not only establishing a working protocol for phosphopeptide enrichment in the Griffin Lab, but also generating the largest list of proteins phosphorylated under normal conditions in yeast to date.

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Orientador: Sonia Maria Alves Bueno / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Química / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-09T16:21:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silva_PaulaTimoteoda_D.pdf: 1311022 bytes, checksum: 1652a409f13e2bb4e1a18a9dcb28d2fa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Raiva ou hidrofobia é uma infecção viral que atinge o sistema nervoso central, ocorrendo em animais e humanos. As proteínas principais encontradas no vírus da raiva que atuam ativando o sistema imune são a nucleoproteína N (NPV) e a glicoproteína G, uma proteína transmembrana que forma o envelope viral e induz a produção de anticorpos neutralizantes que protegem contra o ataque viral. Este trabalho visou a purificação da glicoproteína G do vírus da raiva com cauda de polihistidina (GPV) a partir do lisado e do sobrenadante da cultura de células de inseto Drosophila melanogaster Schneider 2 (S2AcGPV2), transfectadas com o vetor pAc 5.1/V5-His A contendo o gene da GPV, empregando cromatografia de afinidade por íons metálicos imobilizados (IMAC). Os aspectos abordados neste trabalho foram a derivatização do gel de agarose com o agente quelante ácido iminodiacético (agarose-IDA) e a avaliação da seletividade, capacidade e reprodutibilidade do gel de agarose-IDA-Ni2+ na adsorção da GPV em função de diferentes sistemas tamponantes e de diferentes estratégias de dessorção de GPV (abaixamento de pH ou aumento da concentração de agente competitivo). A seletividade em cada sistema tamponante foi determinada por eletroforese SDSPAGE das frações dos picos de proteína obtidos nas cromatografias e a quantificação de GPV presente nas frações cromatográficas foi realizada através de ensaios do tipo ELISA. A melhor condição utilizada para a purificação da glicoproteína G foi a alimentação de lisado de células em coluna contendo agarose-IDA-Ni2+ equilibrada com tampão fosfato de sódio 20 mM, cloreto de sódio 500 mM, imidazol 2 mM pH 7,0. A lavagem foi realizada com tampão fosfato de sódio 20 mM, cloreto de sódio 500 mM, imidazol 2 mM pH 6,0 e a eluição por aumento de concentração de imidazol para 200 e 500 mM. Os resultados demonstraram a potencialidade de utilização do método de IMAC para a purificação da glicoproteína G do vírus da raiva / Abstract: Rabies or hydrophobia is a viral infection that affects the central nervous system, occuring in animals and humans. The main proteins found in rabies virus that activates the immunological system are the N nucleoprotein (NPV) and the G glycoprotein, a transmembrane protein that forms the spikes of the virus and induces virus-neutralizing antibodies that protect against infection. This research aimed at the purification of the rabies virus glycoprotein containing a polyhistidine tag (GPV) from lisate and supernatant of Drosophila melanogaster Schneider 2 (S2AcGPV2) cells culture, transfected with the vector pAc 5.1/V5-His A containing the GPV gene, using immobilized metal íon affinity chromatography (IMAC). The aspects developed in this project were the agarose gel derivatization with the chelating agent iminodiacetic acid (IDA) and the evaluation of the agarose-IDA-Ni2+ gel seletivity, capacity and reproductibility at the GPV adsorption, regarding different buffer systems and different GPV's desorption strategies (lowering the pH of the buffer or increasing the concentration of a competitive agent in the buffer). The seletivity in each buffer system was determined by performing SDS-PAGE electrophoresis on the chromatographic samples with the larger concentration of proteins, and the GPV quantification in these samples was determined by ELISA assays. The best results of purification were found when lisate was fed into an agarose-IDA-Ni2+ column equilibrated with 20 mM sodium phosphate buffer containing 500 mM sodium chloride and 2 mM imidazole pH 7,0. The washing step was proceeded with 20 mM sodium phosphate buffer containing 500 mM sodium chloride and 2 mM imidazole pH 6,0 and the elution proceeded by raising the imidazole concentration at the wash buffer to 200 e 500 mM. The results demonstrated the potencial of using IMAC to purify rabies virus G glycoprotein / Doutorado / Desenvolvimento de Processos Biotecnologicos / Mestre em Engenharia Química

Orientador: Sonia Maria Alves Bueno / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Quimica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-02T17:38:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Serpa_Gisele_M.pdf: 3619704 bytes, checksum: 1feef42faa8bb785a83f4c9f481a438c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2002 / Resumo: Anticorpos monoc1onais são imunoglobulinas secretadas por uma célula híbrida, chamada hibridoma, que é fonnada pela fusão de um linfócito (produtor de anticorpos) e uma célula de mieloma, o que faz do hibridoma uma célula produtora de anticorpos virtualmente imortal. Os anticorpos monoc1onais têm sido utilizados nas áreas analítica e terapêutica, o que implica na necessidade de obtenção de anticorpos de alta pureza. Muitos estudos têm sido realizados visando a purificação de anticorpos monoc1onais, e destacam-se as técnicas de adsorção seletiva, como as cromatografias de troca iônica, hidrofóbicas e de a:f11Údade. Neste trabalho aplicou-se a cromatografia em membranas de álcool polietileno-vinílico, derivatizadas com ácido iminodiacético (IDA), com íons metálicos imobilizados na purificação de anticorpos monoc1onais IgGl a partir de sobrenadante de cultura celular. Para determinar as melhores condiçôes de adsorção e eluição, foram testados os íons Cu2+, Ni2+, Zn2+ e C02+, na presença de diferentes sistemas tamponantes. A seletividade dos metais, em cada um dos sistemas, foi determinada através de eletroforese SDS-PAGE e testes ELISA das frações dos picos de proteína obtidos. A melhor condição de purificação foi a alimentação de sobrenadante de cultura celular previamente precipitado e dialisado com solução de sulfato de amônio, em coluna contendo PEVA-IDA-Zn2+, em presença de tampão Tris-HCI 50 mM a pH 7,0 e eluição por aumento de concentração de Tris. A partir das isotermas de adsorção, determinou-se a capacidade máxima de adsorção e a constante de dissociação do complexo IDA­Zn2+-IgGl que de acordo com o ajuste dos parâmetros pelo modelo de Langmuir, mostraram uma alta capacidade de adsorção (63,4 mg/g de membrana seca) e uma constante de dissociação (8,lxlO-6 M) característica de sistemas de média afinidade. Foram também determinadas as curvas de ruptura para o processo proposto, através de experimentos de fIltração a diferentes vazões de alimentação, utilizando um módulo contendo as fibras ocas com Zn2+ imobilizado, construído em nosso laboratório / Abstract: Monoc1onal antibodies are immunoglobulins produced by a hybrid cell ca11ed hybridoma. These cells result from the fusion of lymphocytes with malignant myeloma cells. Hybridomas cells express both the lymphocyte's property of specific-antibody production and the immortal character of the myeloma cells. Monoc1onal antibodies have been used in analy1ica1 and therapeutica1 areas. This application needs high1y pure antibodies. Many techniques have been studied focusing monoc1onal antibodies purification. These techniques inc1ude ion exchange, hydrophobic and affinity chromatography. In this study, we applied polyethylenevinyl alcohol (PEV A) membranes in the purification of monoc1onal antibody from cell culture supem.atant. These membranes were derivatized with the quelant agent, iminodiacetic acid (IDA). We evaluated the adsorption and purification of monoc1onal antibodies on the matrix with different immobilized metal ios, Cu2+, Ni2+, Zn2+ and C02+ and with different buffers. According to SDS­PAGE electrophoresis and ELISA analysis, the higher selectivity was obtained in the presence of 50 mM Tris-HCl buffer, pH 7,0 and with elution by increasing Tris concentration, with immobilized Zn2+, wich provided the purification of IgG with traces of albumin. The adsorbent capacity and the dissociation constant of the complex IDA-Zn2+-IgGI were determinated from adsorption isotherms. According to the Langmuir model, the results indicated that the matrix presents high adsorption capacity (63,4 mg/g de chy membrane) and a dissociation constant (8,1 x 10-6 M) characteristic for intermediate affinity systems. We also evaluated the breaktrough curves for PEVA-IDA-Zn2+ membrane chromatography for the antibodies purification using different flow rates. These breaktrough CUIVes are important to sca1e up procedure / Mestrado / Desenvolvimento de Processos Biotecnologicos / Mestre em Engenharia Química

La phosphorylation de protéines est un régulateur clé de voies de signalisation cellulaire. Elle est impliquée dans la plupart des événements cellulaires et contrôle les processus biologiques tels que la prolifération, la différenciation et l'expression des gènes. Une phosphorylation anormale de protéines peut être observée dans diverses maladies comme certains cancers ou maladies neurodégénératives. Ces protéines constituent donc des biomarqueurs potentiels pour le développement d'outils de diagnostic. Cependant les phosphoprotéines peuvent être présentes à faibles concentrations dans les liquides biologiques et des techniques d'enrichissement sélectif des protéines phosphorylées doivent être développées en amont des analyses. L'une des approches les plus courantes est basée sur la chromatographie d'affinité de type IMAC. Le but de ce travail de thèse était de développer un microsystème contenant un monolithe en tant que support solide d'extraction pour réaliser une préconcentration sélective de phosphopeptides par IMAC. La polymérisation par UV et la caractérisation (perméabilité, porosité et surface spécifique) d'un monolithe à base de phosphate de méthacrylate d'éthylène glycol dans des capillaires de silice ont été d'abord réalisées. Puis, nous avons tenté d'optimiser les différentes étapes de l'IMAC (immobilisation du métal, chargement de l'échantillon, lavage et élution). Une immobilisation efficace de zirconium sur le monolithe phosphaté a été démontrée par des mesures de FEO dans un capillaire et a été par la suite confirmée par la rétention d'un phosphopeptide modèle. Nous avons démontré que le monolithe phosphaté était également un support d'échange de cations vis-à-vis de peptides fortement basiques. Les protocoles de chargement et d'élution ont également été étudiés, mais nécessitent encore d'être améliorés. La transposition de l'enrichissement de phosphopeptides par IMAC sur un système miniaturisé a ensuite été envisagée. Nous avons choisi deux matériaux pour la puce : le PDMS, qui est un polymère attractif pour son faible coût, sa facilité de microfabrication, ses excellentes propriétés en termes de biocompatibilité ainsi que ses nombreuses possibilités d'intégration (enrichissement, séparation, détection) et le verre plus communément employé pour développer des microsystèmes analytiques et possédant une bonne transparence aux UV. Toutefois, le PDMS présente deux inconvénients majeurs: son absorption élevée et sa perméabilité importante à l'oxygène qui inhibe la polymérisation radicalaire. A l'exception de quelques tentatives, ce matériau n'a jamais été employé avec succès comme support pour la polymérisation d'un monolithe. Afin de pouvoir surmonter ces problèmes, nous avons étudié plusieurs stratégies de traitement de surface du PDMS tels que le traitement par plasma d'oxygène ou encore le revêtement au borosilicate. Enfin, nous avons démontré que notre module d'IMAC fonctionnait correctement dans un microsystème en verre. Ce module miniaturisé devrait à l'avenir s'intégrer dans un microsystème d'analyse dédié au diagnostic de la maladie d'Alzheimer.

El glifosat, N-(fosfonometil) glicina, és un dels herbicides més utilitzats arreu del món a causa de la seva baixa toxicitat i al seu ampli espectre d'aplicació. A conseqüència del gran ús que se'n fa, és necessari monitoritzar aquest compost i el seu principal metabòlit, l'àcid aminometilfosfònic (AMPA), en el medi ambient. S'han descrit diversos mètodes instrumentals basats en cromatografia de gasos (GC) i de líquids (HPLC), sent aquesta darrera l'opció més favorable a causa del caràcter polar dels anàlits. Per assolir nivells de concentració baixos cal, però, la preconcentració dels anàlits.En aquest treball s'estudien diferents alternatives amb aquest objectiu. S'ha avaluat la tècnica de membrana líquida suportada (SLM) on la membrana consisteix en una dissolució orgànica, que conté un transportador (en el nostre cas, un bescanviador d'anions comercial, Aliquat 336), que impregna un suport polimèric microporós que se situa entre dues solucions aquoses: la de càrrega, que conté els anàlits inicialment, i la receptora, on es retenen els anàlits després del seu transport a través de la membrana. Les condicions d'extracció més adequades s'obtenen treballant en medi bàsic amb NaOH on els anàlits estan en forma aniònica i les majors recuperacions s'obtenen amb HCl 0,1 M o NaCl 0,5 M, la qual cosa indica que l'ió clorur és la força impulsora del transport.Un cop dissenyat el sistema, es duen a terme experiments de preconcentració amb dues geometries diferents: un sistema de membrana laminar (LSLM) on recircula la fase receptora i un sistema de fibra buida (HFSLM). Els millors resultats s'obtenen amb el mòdul de fibra buida, amb factors de concentració de 25 i 3 per a glifosat i AMPA, respectivament, fent recircular durant 24 hores 100 ml de solució de càrrega i 4 ml de solució receptora. També s'aplica una tècnica més selectiva, la cromatografia d'afinitat amb ió metàl·lic immobilitzat (IMAC), basada en la interacció entre els anàlits i un metall immobilitzat en una resina a través d'un grup funcional d'aquesta. En aquest estudi s'immobilitza pal·ladi al grup funcional 8-hidroxiquinoleïna de la resina amb matriu acrílica Spheron Oxine 1000 i s'avalua per a l'extracció i preconcentració de glifosat i AMPA. Per a ambdós anàlits l'adsorció és del 100 % i les recuperacions són superiors al 80 % i al 60 % per a glifosat i AMPA, respectivament, utilitzant HCl 0,1 M + NaCl 1 M com a eluent. Aquests resultats es comparen amb els obtinguts amb dues resines més, també carregades amb pal·ladi: Iontosorb Oxin 100, que té el mateix grup funcional però matriu de cel·lulosa, i Spheron Thiol 1000, on el grup funcional és un tiol i la matriu també és acrílica. Per al glifosat els resultats són similars amb totes les resines, però per a l'AMPA la resina Spheron Thiol és la única que proporciona recuperacions superiors al 93 %.Finalment, una altra opció estudiada és l'acoblament de dues columnes de cromatografia líquida (LC-LC). En l'estudi l'objectiu és millorar el mètode existent per a glifosat i AMPA en aigües naturals on el LOD era de 0,25 ug/l. El mètode consisteix en la derivatització precolumna amb el reactiu fluorescent FMOC i l'anàlisi amb l'acoblament LC-LC-fluorescència. Variant lleugerament les condicions de derivatització s'aconsegueix quantificar 0,1 ug/l de glifosat i AMPA. Es fortifiquen aigües naturals amb 0,1, 1 i 10 ug/l dels anàlits per validar el mètode. S'obtenen recuperacions d'entre el 85 % i el 100 %, amb desviacions estàndard relatives inferiors al 8 %. Aplicant una tècnica de preconcentració prèvia a la derivatització i anàlisi utilitzant una resina de bescanvi aniònic, Amberlite IRA-900, es millora la sensibilitat del mètode i s'assoleix un LOD per al glifosat de 0,02 ug/l. / Glyphosate, N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine, is one of the most widely used herbicides in the world due to its low mammal toxicity. Therefore, there is a great interest in the monitoring of this compound and its major metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), in environmental matrices. A great variety of methods based on gas chromatography (GC) and liquid chromatography (HPLC) have been applied for their determination. HPLC is the most popular option due to the polar nature of both compounds. However, the analysis of these compounds at residue levels requires the use of preconcentration techniques.In this work we have studied different alternatives to this aim. We have evaluated the supported liquid membrane (SLM) technique where the membrane consists of an organic solution, which contains the carrier (in this case a commercial anion exchanger extractant, Aliquat 336), that impregnates a microporous polymeric support placed between two aqueous solutions: the feed solution, which initially contains the analytes, and the stripping solution, where the analytes are retained after their transport through the membrane. The best conditions were achieved with NaOH as feed solution, where the analytes are present in their anionic form and 0.1 M HCl or 0.5 M NaCl as stripping solutions indicating that the chloride ion is the responsible for the transport.Under these chemical conditions some preconcentration experiments were run using two different geometries of the membrane: a laminar membrane system (LSLM) where the stripping solution can be recirculated and a hollow fiber liquid membrane (HFSLM). The best results were obtained for the liquid membrane system in HF configuration, with concentration factors of 25 and 3 for glyphosate and AMPA, respectively, after recirculation during 24 hours of 100 ml of feed solution and 4 ml of stripping solution.A more selective technique is also studied, immobilised metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC), which is based on the interaction between the analytes and a metal immobilised in a resin through a functional group. In this work we have immobilised palladium through the chelating group 8-hydroxyquinoline of the acrylic resin Spheron Oxine and it has been evaluated for the preconcentration of glyphosate and AMPA. 100 % adsorption has been obtained for both analytes and the recoveries are higher than 80 % and 60 % for glyphosate and AMPA, respectively, using 0.1 M HCl + 1 M NaCl as eluent. These results are compared with the results obtained working with two different resins also charged with palladium: Iontosorb Oxin, which has the same functional group but cellulose matrix, and Spheron Thiol, which a thiol functional group and acrylic matrix. The results for glyphosate are similar with all the resins tested, but for AMPA the best results are obtained with Spheron Thiol with recoveries higher than 93 %.Finally, another option studied is the coupling of two liquid chromatographic columns (LC-LC). In this work the objective is to improve the existing method for the analysis of glyphosate and AMPA in natural waters which had a LOD of 0.25 mg/l. The method consists of the pre-column derivatization with the fluorescent reagent FMOC and the analysis by LC-LC-fluorescence detection. The derivatization step has been slightly modified with the aim of decreasing the limits of quantification of glyphosate and AMPA down to 0.1 mg/l. Different water samples spiked at three concentration levels (0.1, 1, 10 mg/l) were analysed by the improved method yielding recoveries between 85-100 % with relative standard deviations lower than 8 %.Additionally, the potential of an anion-exchange resin, Amberlite&#61650; IRA-900, for preconcentration of glyphosate, previously to the derivatization step, has been investigated. In this way the LOD of the parent compound has been lowered to 0.02 mg/l.

In the past couple of decades, the discovery that iron is a limiting nutrient in large regions of the ocean has spurred much research into characterizing the biogeochemical controls on iron cycling. While Fe(II) is soluble at circumneutral pH, it readily oxidizes to Fe(III) in the presence of oxygen. Fe(III) is highly insoluble at circumneutral pH, presenting organisms with a bioavailability paradox stemming from the physiological challenge of using a solid phase mineral for assimilatory or dissimilatory purposes. Interestingly, dissolved organic-Fe(III) complexes can be stable in seawater in the presence of oxygen, and an active flux of these complexes has recently been measured in estuarine sediments. Their sources and biogeochemical role, however, remain poorly understood. In this work, a suite of field and laboratory techniques were developed to quantify diagenetic processes involved in the remineralization of carbon in marine sediments in situ, investigate the role of these organic-Fe(III) complexes in sediment biogeochemistry, and characterize the composition of the ligands possibly involved in the solubilization of Fe(III) in marine sediments. The first-of-its-kind in situ electrochemical analyzer and HPLC was used to better constrain diagenetic processes that may lead to the formation of dissolved organic-Fe(III) complexes in the Altamaha estuary and Carolina slope. An intensive study of the Satilla River estuary reveals that dissimilatory iron-reduction contributes to the formation of sedimentary organic-Fe(III) complexes, which are demonstrated to serve as an electron acceptor in subsequent incubations with a model iron-reducing microorganism. Similar observations in deep-sea slope and abyssal plain sediments fed by the Mississippi and Congo Rivers suggest that dissimilatory iron reduction may represent an important component of carbon remineralization in river-dominated ocean margin sediments that may be currently underestimated globally. To confirm that these organic-Fe(III) complexes are produced during microbial iron reduction, novel separation schemes were developed to extract and identify Fe(III)-binding ligands from sediment pore waters. Preliminary results reveal the presence of a few select low-molecular weight compounds in all pore waters extracted, suggesting they might be endogenous ligands secreted by iron-reducing bacteria to non-reductively dissolve Fe(III) minerals prior to reduction.

In the field of proteomics, proteins are analyzed and quantified in high numbers. Protein analysis is of great importance and can for example generate information regarding protein function and involvement in disease. Different strategies for protein analysis and quan- tification have emerged, suitable for different applications. The focus of this thesis lies on protein identification and quantification using different setups and method development has a central role in all included papers. The presented research can be divided into three parts. Part one describes the develop- ment of two different screening methods for His6-tagged recombinant protein fragments. In the first investigation, proteins were purified using immobilized metal ion affinity chro- matography in a 96-well plate format and in the second investigation this was downscaled to nanoliter-scale using the miniaturized sample preparation platform, integrated selective enrichment target (ISET). The aim of these investigations was to develop methods that could work as an initial screening step in high-throughput protein production projects, such as the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) project, for more efficient protein production and purification. In the second part of the thesis, focus lies on quantitative proteomics. Protein fragments were produced with incorporated heavy isotope-labeled amino acids and used as internal standards in absolute protein quantification mass spectrometry experiments. The aim of this investigation was to compare the protein levels obtained using quanti- tative mass spectrometry to mRNA levels obtained by RNA sequencing. Expression of 32 different proteins was studied in six different cell lines and a clear correlation between protein and mRNA levels was observed when analyzing genes on an individual level. The third part of the thesis involves the antibodies generated within the HPA project. In the first investigation a method for validation of antibodies using protein immunoenrichment coupled to mass spectrometry was described. In a second study, a method was developed where antibodies were used to capture tryptic peptides from a digested cell lysate with spiked in heavy isotope-labeled protein fragments, enabling quantification of 20 proteins in a multiplex format. Taken together, the presented research has expanded the pro- teomics toolbox in terms of available methods for protein analysis and quantification in a high-throughput format. / <p>QC 20141022</p>

The bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis is the leading cause of bacterial sexually transmitted infection worldwide. When left untreated, chlamydial infections can lead to severe complications, such as infertility. Lack in current prevention and management due to its asymptomatic course of infection highlight the need for an effective vaccine against chlamydia. There is no vaccine at present to protect against chlamydia, but research is ongoing. A research group at Örebro University has developed a protein antigen candidate. This project focused on the production of the candidate, here called Protein X, for preclinical trials. This included optimising production in Escherichia coli to maximise formation of soluble protein, optimising purification, buffer exchange and removal of His-tag. It was found that formation of soluble protein was favoured in lower expression temperatures. Furthermore, purification was performed on soluble and insoluble protein fractions using immobilised metal affinity chromatography. However, issues with inefficient binding to the resin and purity could not be solved and further optimisation is needed. Buffers were tested to find a suitable buffer for preclinical experiments, but the protein precipitated in all buffers. It was however found that protein from the insoluble fraction dissolved in pure water. Lastly, removal of the His-tag was performed with a non-enzymatic method that utilises nickel ions instead of expensive proteases. Efficient removal was however not achieved and enzymatic methods may be considered instead. In conclusion, this project highlighted issues in the production of Protein X and may guide the research group towards improving this process for efficient preclinical preparations.