SOLICITATION NOTICE
66 -- Liquid Chromatography System for Protein Purification
- Notice Date
- 9/3/2007
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 334516
— Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Pacific West Area Office, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, CA, 94710-1105, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- ag95cvp07a129
- Response Due
- 9/17/2007
- Archive Date
- 10/2/2007
- Description
- The USDA ARS PWA Office in Wapato, WA has a requirement for a Liquid Chromatography System for Protein Purification, designed for high performance purification and characterization of proteins, peptides and nucleic acids, which can perform routine procedures of any complexity with scouting and method optimization, and with biomolecule characterization such as peptide mapping. The system must perform all chromatographic techniques and scout for optimal binding and elution conditions, pH, gradient shapes and flow rates and use the UNICORN? or equivalent operating software to minimize preparation, run-time and repetitive tasks while retaining flexibility for easy manual operation. The system must have flow rates of 0.001 to 10 ml/min at pressures up to 25 MPa. Desktop Control system including: - System pump with four pump heads in two pump modules - Mixer for precision gradient formation - Variable, multiwavelength UV-Vis detector, 190-700nm, - Injection valve - Control Box - Accessory Kit - Unicorn software package - Unicorn dc5750 control unit with specially configured and tested RAID 1 with dual operating hard drives - 19" LCD display * System start-up must be included Fraction collector must be integrated into the Liquid Chromatography System (easy to program system). Slope, threshold, time and volume based collection modes; Fraction size must be 0.1 to 100ml with event marks for easy identification of fractions and peaks; Operate at +4 to +40?C with a max flow rate at 100 ml/min. Fraction collector must also include the following: - Tube rack for (95) 18 mm diameter tubes - Tube rack for (175) 12mm diameter tubes - Tube rack for (40) 30mm diameter tubes - Flow diversion valve Columns - The system must come with Ion exchange and reverse phase columns We require the ability to purify biomolecules from complex starting materials. The system we will use must be able to perform separations based on a variety of sample characteristics, such as molecular weight, net surface charge, hydrophobicity, while retaining biological activity. We require a flow rate range of .001-10 mls/min at pressures ranging from 0-3625 psi. Because the resolution we require may necessitate the use of very precise, shallow gradients, the system must be a two-pump gradient system, with dynamic mixing, as evidence suggests that this configuration produces the highest accuracy and precision in gradient formation. The system must come supplied with both a 0.6 ml and a 2.0 ml interchangeable mixing chambers for gradients at higher flow rates. Because we will be using salt buffers, the entire wetted flow path of the system must be inert to halides. The pump heads must be titanium with valves and tubing PEEK. The system pumps should allow operation of the system at zero backpressure to ensure system compatibility with standard low-pressure chromatography supports often used in affinity chromatography and other techniques. The controller must allow programs to be time-based, volume-based, or column-volume based. The system should include the option of a fraction collector that is fully integrated into the system and fully controllable via the system control software. This fraction collector must have the capacity to fractionate into 96-well microplates, 12mm, 18mm, 30mm, 250ml bottles or even larger vessels with prep rack. The system must include 4 motorized valves for sample injection, column selection, and outlet flow selection. In order to facilitate cleaning, storage, selection of our various chromatographic columns, and further automation the system must have the ability to control 5 more optional motorized valves for a total 9 motorized valves. This is necessary for buffer selection, injection, flow diversion, diverting peaks to sample loops etc. Also, these motorized valves should provide feedback to the control system to ensure proper orientation of all valves, and documentation of valve positions at all times. The valves should be driven electronically and require no external air or pressure to operate. The system controller must allow the user to be entering details of the next purification at the same time the current separation is being done, or to simultaneously be integrating and evaluating the results of earlier runs. The software must allow complete manual control of all parameters and running conditions while running a method. Control of motorized valves, fraction collector, dynamic gradient mixer, and autosampler must all be possible from the system controller. The pumps, UV, pH and conductivity monitors, valves and fraction collector must all be specified for use in a cold room at 4 degrees C. The controller must accept seven input signals (e.g. UV wavelength, conductivity, pH, temperature, pressure). It must be capable of plotting, and integrating these signals, as well as using them to trigger sub-routines in the programming when the signal exceeds a preset threshold, to allow the automation of multi-dimensional separations. The system must include one automatic three-position injection valve (load, inject, and wash positions), which will allow for sample loading onto the column. The system must include 2 switch valves to allow automatic buffer blending to give desired pH and salt concentration. The system controller should allow for automation of the optimization of separation parameters (e.g. sample volume, flow rate, gradient slope). This should allow a small amount of sample to be consumed in optimizing the purification scheme, after which the best regime can be scaled up on the same LC system. The system must include a sample pump to automatically load up to 8 samples with the sample selection valve. Column equilibration before and after sample injection and elution must be capable of being monitored, with a feed-back loop to the control system, so we can be certain equilibration is completed, without consuming excess volume of sometimes expensive buffers. Documentation of each run should be automatic and exhaustive, so that for purposes of subsequent replication and eventual publication, no detail is left unrecorded. Access to the controller must be by user name with password and level of access by each user must be definable by administrator. The software must be able to operate on the Windows XP operating system. Post-run chromatographic analysis and reporting functions should also be included. In order to protect our columns, the system must have a definable pressure limit system defined when the column is selected from a list which will stop the pump and generate an audible and visual warning, in the event pressure exceeds the preset limit. We also require that the controller allow the user the option of including in his/her chromatographic methods programs, commands which will automatically reduce the flow rate if an over-pressurization occurs as sample is being applied or eluted from the column. Additional variables which should also be programmable to trigger sub-routines (e.g. new tube on fraction collector; valve changes; etc.) should include UV or conductivity signals. The controller should permit automatic running of up to 99 different chromatographic programs in a user-designated sequence. It must turn off the pump flow when a signal is received from the fraction collector indicating there are no tubes remaining, so that valuable sample is preserved. The system must automatically and continuously be able to record throughout each chromatographic run the following parameters: flow rate; 3 auto-scaled UV signals; actual AND programmed conductivity of the eluent; eluent pH; system pressure; accumulated time of run; all valve positions and changes in position; activity of a fraction collector - and it must allow these recorded data to be called up later for interpretation and to aid in future replication of results. It must allow for post-run analysis of chromatograms, export of data to other spreadsheet programs, and generation of written reports. Installation and training must be provided by the vendor, at no additional cost. The system proposals should include spare parts we are likely to need during the first 12 months of operation. Equipment consists of GE Health Care items 13681701 S AKTAPurifier 10 18117740 Frac-920 Fraction Collector 11001170 Flow Diversion valve SV-923 17516601 Mono Q 5/50 GL 17505701 URPC 4.6/100 A RFQ is not available for this requirement and the USDA intends on negotiating with the only known source GE Health Care Bioscience Corp. for this requirement. Interested firm are encouraged to submit proposals to the attention of Fred Gifford as listed in the notice. See numbered note 22.
- Place of Performance
- Address: Wapato WA
- Zip Code: 98951
- Country: UNITED STATES
- Zip Code: 98951
- Record
- SN01393628-W 20070905/070903220020 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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