Arrayit High-Throughput Wash Station with a capacity of 25 microarray glass substrate slides (1 x 25 x 76 mm) featuring a durable wash chamber with a 500 ml buffer capacity, a built-in stir bar to allow mixing on any magnetic stir plate, a slide rack with a 25 slide (1 x 25 x 76 mm) capacity, and a tight-fitting lid to prevent buffer evaporation and splashing during use. Arrayit High-Throughput Wash Stations support a wide range of washing, rinsing and blocking steps in microarray experimentation and are essential tools for life sciences, microarray testing and other research applications requiring an affordable, high-throughput solution for wash station hardware. HTW dimensions are 10 x 10 x 10 cm (L x W x H) and ships as 1 wash station per order.
Microarray Tools - Wash Stations - High-Throughput Wash Stations to Speed and Simplify Blocking, Wash and Rinse Buffer Steps for DNA and Protein Microarrays
Arrayit has developed a highly innovative microarray wash station that facilitates microarray processing and washing at an affordable price. Our High-Throughput Wash Stations accommodate up to 25 microarray slides (1 x 25 x 76 mm) in a durable slide rack and 500 ml buffer reservoir equipped with a magnetic stir bar. Compatible with all 1 x 25 x 76 mm glass substrate slide microarrays, these wash stations can be used with any magnetic stir plate and are essential equipment for all microarray laboratories. Multiple wash stations containing different buffers simplify and speed microarray processing and washing.
Figure 1.Arrayit High-Throughput Wash Station components including the durable 25-position substrate slide holder (left), the 500 ml buffer reservoir with built-in stir bar (center) and the cover (right). Use in conjunction with any magnetic stir plate for a wide range of life sciences and microarray testing applications requiring vigorous mixing at the microarray blocking, washing and rinsing steps.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Quality Control
- Product Description
- Short Protocols
- Complete Protocols
- Troubleshooting Tips
- Technical Support
- Scientific Publications
- Ordering Information
- Warranty
Introduction
Congratulations on taking a big step towards improving the affordability, quality and speed of your genomics, biomedical, pharmaceutical and agricultural research. This booklet contains all the information required to take full advantage of Arrayit High-Throughput Wash Stations.
Quality Control
Arrayit takes every measure to assure the quality of our Arrayit High-Throughput Wash Stations. The finest microarray biochip research and engineering was used to develop this product line. Rigorous quality control monitoring on a part-by-part basis guarantees that this product conforms to the highest industry standards.
Product Description
Arrayit High-Throughput Wash Stations provide the highest quality glass microarray substrate slide wash stations at an affordable price. All of our wash stations are designed by our team of world-class engineers and manufactured in our advanced microarray research laboratories by our trained technical staff. No other glass slide wash station on the market can compete with this product in terms of affordability or performance.
Users will appreciate the following features:
1. Holds 1-25 standard microarray substrate slides (1 x 25 x 76 mm)
2. Slide rack stable to centrifugation (500 x g)
3. Can be used with any magnetic stir plate
4. Conserves buffer at 500 ml buffer per wash step
5. Supports washes with any aqueous buffer from 4-50°C
6. Acrylic box stable to mild solvents such as ethanol
7. Lid prevents splashing and buffer evaporation
8. Unique engineering design allows rapid buffer equilibration
9. Low cost allows multiple units to be used at once
10. Excellent for both DNA and protein microarrays
Short Protocol
1. Fill the wash station with 500 ml buffer. For best results use Arrayit Microarray Wash Buffers and Blocking Buffers.
2. Place the wash station on a magnetic stir plate.
3. Turn on the magnetic stir plate to initiate buffer mixing.
4. Place 1-25 glass microarray slides (1 x 25 x 76 mm) in the slide rack.
5. Insert the rack into the wash station.
6. Cover the sash station with the tight-fitting lid.
7. Mix for 5 min with a wash buffer of choice.
8. Remove lid and slide rack and empty buffer by inverting the wash station.
9. Add a new wash buffer and repeat steps 2-8 as the protocol requires.
10. When wash steps are complete, for best results dry using a microarray centrifuge.
Complete Protocol
1. Fill the wash station with 500 ml buffer. This volume will fill the wash station approximately 2/3 full. The wash station is designed to be used in aqueous (water-based) buffers, but the acrylic box is resistant to mild solvents such as ethanol and isopropanol. The use of strong solvents such as acetone will discolor the unit and should not be used under any circumstances. For best results use Arrayit Microarray Wash Buffers and Blocking Buffers.
2. Place the wash station on a magnetic stir plate. The wash station should be placed in the center of the stir plate to ensure that the stir bar spins properly during the mixing process.
3. Turn on the magnetic stir plate to initiate buffer mixing. Choose a mixing speed that provides vigorous agitation without spilling the wash buffer over the top of the sash station. The wash station is designed for room temperature (20-25°C) washes, but can accommodate buffers pre-cooled to as low as 4°C or pre-heated to 50°C. The sash station should not be used in freezers, on hot plates or in microwave ovens under any circumstances.
4. Place 1-25 glass substrate slide microarrays (1 x 25 x 76 mm) in the slide rack.
5. Insert the rack into the wash station. Make sure the rack is in the center of the wash station for best mixing.
6. Cover the wash station with the tight-fitting lid. The lid prevents buffer evaporation and particulate contamination during mixing.
7. Mix for 5 min using a wash buffer of choice. Buffers could include Arrayit's entire line of commercial buffers as well as buffers that contain SSC, SSPE, SDS, TritonX-100, NP-40, ethanol, sodium borohydride or any other aqueous buffer that is used in conjunction with DNA or protein microarrays. The acrylic wash station is not stable to strong acids or bases or solvents such as acetone. Please do not use improper buffers in this unit.
8. Remove lid and slide rack and empty buffer by inverting the wash station. The retention screen will prevent the stir bar from falling out of the unit. Aqueous buffers can be discarded into a standard laboratory sink fitted with a proper drain.
9. Add a new wash buffer and repeat steps 2-8 as the protocol requires. This allows new buffers to be used for protocols that contain multiple wash steps. Several wash stations can be set up in tandem for increased throughput.
10. When wash steps are complete, for best results dry using a microarray centrifuge.
Troubleshooting Tips
1. No buffer mixing
- Check the stir plate power cord
- Make sure the mixing switch is turned on
2. Poor buffer mixing
- Make sure the wash station is positioned in the center of the stir plate
- Check that the buffer volume is 500 ml
3. Uneven microarray signals
- Increase wash time
- Increase rate of buffer mixing
4. Buffer evaporation
Figure 2. Arrayit High Throughput Wash Station (Cat. HTW) in use. The HTW slide rack contains 25 glass substrate slides (1 x 25 x 76 mm) and 500 ml of 1X SSC (left) or 500 ml of protein microarray wash buffer (Cat. PMWB) (right). The clear lid prevents splashing and buffer evaporation during use.
Figure 3. Arrayit High-Throughput Wash Station (Cat. HTW) featuring a 25-position glass substrate slide rack and a built-in magnetic stir bar.