CrystalsFirst

PROTEIN PRODUCTION

Accelerated by quality.

PROTEIN PRODUCTION

Accelerated by quality.

Protein material for drug discovery

High-quality protein is the foundation of structure-based drug discovery. Crystallography, Cryo-EM, NMR, and biophysical assays all rely on pure, well-characterized proteins.

At CrystalsFirst, protein expression is embedded into our integrated pipeline for structural biology and biophysics – allowing a seamless transition from sequence to structure without friction. Our protein sciences team tailors construct design and expression systems to the milestones of your discovery campaign, ensuring every deliverable is built for downstream success.

Specialized Expertise

Protein Production Quality Control

Built for target enablement: From the start, construct design, expression, purification, and analytics are planned to serve biophysics and structural biology.

Expression systems: Expertise in E. coli and insect cells (Hi5, Sf9) for flexibility across simple to complex targets.

Milestone-based execution: Clear project phases with checkpoints and consolidated reporting keep programs efficient and transparent.

Modern analytics: Identity, purity, concentration, and homogeneity are confirmed with state-of-the-art methods.

Seamless hand-off: Proteins transfer directly into internal crystallography, Cryo-EM, or NMR pipelines, minimizing project downtime.

Built for target enablement: From the start, construct design, expression, purification, and analytics are planned to serve biophysics and structural biology.

Expression systems: Expertise in E. coli and insect cells (Hi5, Sf9) for flexibility across simple to complex targets.

Milestone-based execution: Clear project phases with checkpoints and consolidated reporting keep programs efficient and transparent.

Modern analytics: Identity, purity, concentration, and homogeneity are confirmed with state-of-the-art methods.

Seamless hand-off: Proteins transfer directly into internal crystallography, Cryo-EM, or NMR pipelines, minimizing project downtime.

Protein Production Quality Control

Project Execution

Construct design and setup – Codon optimization, tags, and cloning strategies are aligned with your target and application.

Pilot expression and optimization – Parallel screening in bacterial and insect systems to identify optimal conditions.

Scale-up and purification – Chromatography workflows ensure high purity and batch-to-batch reproducibility.

Quality control and reporting – Each batch undergoes identity, purity, and homogeneity checks, with transparent reporting.

Construct design and setup – Codon optimization, tags, and cloning strategies are aligned with your target and application.

Pilot expression and optimization – Parallel screening in bacterial and insect systems to identify optimal conditions.

Scale-up and purification – Chromatography workflows ensure high purity and batch-to-batch reproducibility.

Quality control and reporting – Each batch undergoes identity, purity, and homogeneity checks, with transparent reporting.

Deliverables

  • mg scale purified protein in required target buffer and concentration.
  • Tagged (e.g. AVI-tag) or tagless protein material 
  • Detailed report: yield, purity, identity, homogeneity, and stability

FAQ: Protein Production at CrystalsFirst

Reproducibility and better data. High-quality recombinant proteins enable crystallography, Cryo-EM, NMR, and biophysics without bottlenecks. At CrystalsFirst, we embed protein production into the discovery pipeline, so targets are structurally enabled from day one. This approach minimizes delays and improves the success rate of structural campaigns.

  • E. coli expression is rapid, scalable, and cost-effective. Nearly 90% of deposited PDB structures have been produced using E. coli, making it the global workhorse for recombinant protein production.
  • Insect cell expression (Hi5, Sf9) is ideal for complex proteins needing correct folding or post-translational modifications. This system supports large proteins, membrane proteins, and viral proteins that bacteria cannot reliably produce. CrystalsFirst provides both options, ensuring the best match for each target.

Every project includes a milestone-based execution model. At each stage, we check purity (>95%), verify identity with mass spectrometry or Western blot, and confirm homogeneity with dynamic light scattering or analytical SEC. Batch-to-batch reproducibility is documented in detailed reports, giving clients full confidence in data integrity.

Produced protein material can be directly transferred into CrystalsFirst screening and structural biology workflows. This integration reduces project hand-off time and ensures structural data is generated quickly, often within weeks rather than months.

Clients receive milligram-scale purified tagged or untagged protein in the required buffer and concentration, along with a comprehensive QC report. This combination of protein and documentation supports both immediate experiments and long-term reproducibility.

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