The High-Throughput Screening Core Facility supports academic and industrial researchers in discovering new molecules and targets, from early-stage exploration to large screening campaigns. We develop, miniaturize, and automate a wide range of assays, from biochemical and cell-based readouts to high-content imaging and other high-dimensional profiling approaches. Our team combines expertise in screening, automation, and data analysis to help partners identify compounds and genes of interest, and to support early drug discovery projects.
Services offered:
- Library management: Small-molecule and functional genomics libraries (shRNA, CRISPR, ORF); library hosting for academic and industrial partners.
- Assay development: From concept to screen-ready assay: design, miniaturization, automation, validation, and SOPs.
- Automated screening: Fully automated workflows, from focused sets to large campaigns, including high-dimensional datasets for AI applications.
- Data analysis: QC, normalization, and hit selection, with custom pipelines for image-based and transcriptomic profiling.
- Technology development: New screening technologies, New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), multi-omics profiling, and proof-of-concept studies.
Equipment:
Library description
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- Chembridge DiverSet: 60000 compounds ( chembridge.com)
- Maybridge HitFinder™: 16000 compounds
- Maybridge (selected): 16000 compounds (maybridge.com)
- SPECS (selected): 16000 compounds (specs.net)
- Microsource Discovery Spectrum: 2000 compounds (msdiscovery.com)
- Biomol (natural products): 500 compounds (biomol.com)
- Prestwick (commercialized products): 1120 compounds (prestwickchemical.fr)
- SIGMA LopacTM: 1280 (sigmaaldrich.com)
- Internal collection (synthesised at UdeM): 8000 compounds
Semi-Automated pipetting workstation
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- Fluent 780 liquid handler equipped with a MCA 96 well head, a FCA (8 tips) and a barcode reader (Tecan)
- One carrousel (up to 120 microplates)
- Installed in a class II biosafety cabinet
Opera (Perkin-Elmer) with Acapella 2.6 analysis software
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- Objectives: 20X air, 20X, 40X et 60 X (water immersion)
- Lasers:
- Blue: 488 nm
- Yellow: 561 nm
- Red: 640 nm
- Violet: 445 nm
- UV Lamp: 360-410 nm
- T-LED: 690 nm
- Camera 1 High QE CCD
- Camera 2 High QE CCD
- Camera 3 High QE CCD
- Camera 4 Camera UV
- Equipped with a Plate-Handler VP5243M (Perkin-Elmer)
- 42 positions hotel
- Temperature controlled unit (CO2 and humidity)
Functional screening system Hamamatsu FDSS 7000
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- 2 pipetting 384-well heads (1-30µl)
- High sensibility Camera EM-CCD
- Entire 384 well plate imaging
- Sampling rate of 10 Hz (10 reads per seconds)
- Tip washing system
- Filters
Fully integrated robotic system 1 (VAL Thermo)
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- Fluent 480 liquid handler equipped with a MCA 96 well head (Tecan)
- Acoustic transfer workstation Echo 555 (Labcyte)
- Bulk dispenser: Multidrop Combi (Thermo)
- Bulk dispenser: Multiflo FX (Biotek)
- Plate washer: TS405 (96- and 384 well plate compatible) (Biotek)
- Automated CO2 incubator Cytomat 6001 (Thermo) up to 189 microplate capacity
- Ambient carousel (up to 120 microplates)
- Barcode reader
- Envision plate reader (Perkin-Elmer):
- Optical density
- Luminescence and enhanced luminescence
- Fluorescence intensity and time-resolved (TRF)
- Fluorescence polarization (FP)
- FRET, BRET
- AlphaScreen
- 96, 384 and 1536 well plates
- Synergy NEO plate reader (Biotek):
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- Luminescence
- Fluorescence intensity and time-resolved (TRF)
- Fluorescence polarization (FP)
- FRET, BRET I and II
- HTRF
- 96, 384 and 1536 well plates
Fully integrated robotic system 2 (CRS F3 robotic arm from Thermo)
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Installed in a class II biosafety cabinet:
- Biomek NX liquid handler (Beckman) equipped with a 96well head /250μl and Biomek NX equipped with “Span-8” pipetting head
- Bulk dispenser: Multidrop Combi (Thermo)
- Bulk dispenser: MultifloFX RAD (Biotek)
- Plate washer: TS405 (96- and 384 well plate compatible) (Biotek)
- V-Spin microplate centrifuge
- Automated CO2 incubator Cytomat 6001 (Thermo) up to 140 microplates
- Automated incubator Cytomat 6002 (Thermo) up to 140 microplates
- Ambient carousel (up to 88 microplates or tips boxes)
- Barcode reader
- Synergy NEO plate reader (Biotek):
- Luminescence
- Fluorescence intensity and time-resolved (TRF)
- Fluorescence polarization (FP)
- FRET, BRET I and II
- HTRF
- AlphaScreen
- 96, 384 and 1536 well plates
Data analysis and storage
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- Biological and chemical data storage, statistical analysis and IC50 determination:
- ActivityBase Suite ver. 9.1 (IDBS)
- IBM System server x3650 M4
- Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2630 v2 @ .60GHz (24 CPUs), ~2.6GHz (32 Go RAM)
- Fibre optic data storage
- Integrated RAID redundancy solution
Additional Instruments
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- Thermosealer Plateloc (Agilent)
- Plate washer ELx405 (96- and 384 well plate compatible) (Biotek)
- 2 bulk dispensers: Multidrop Combi (Thermo)
- Bulk dispenser: Multidrop Combi nl (Thermo)