Abstract
Historically, the routine use of laboratory automation solutions has been prohibitively expensive for many laboratories. As legacy hardware has begun to emerge on the secondary market, automation is becoming an increasingly affordable option to augment workflow in virtually any laboratory. To assess the utility of legacy liquid handling in stem cell differentiation, a used liquid handling robot was purchased at auction to automate a stem cell differentiation protocol that gives rise to CD14+CD45+ mononuclear cells. To maintain sterility, the automated liquid handling robot was housed in a custom constructed HEPA filtered enclosure. A custom cell scraper and a disposable filter box were designed and 3D printed to permit the robot intricate cell culture actions required by the protocol. All files for the 3D printed labware are uploaded and are freely available.•A used liquid handling robot was used to automate an hESC to monocyte differentiation protocol.•The robot-performed protocol induced monocytes as effectively as human technicians.•Custom 3D printed labware was made to permit certain cell culture actions and are uploaded for free access.
Highlights
The routine use of laboratory automation solutions has been prohibitively expensive for many laboratories
We assessed the utility of a legacy liquid handling robot at performing a stem cell differentiation protocol that requires intricate and accurate movements
An automated liquid handling robot was purchased used at auction ($100 from eBay.com) and was programmed to perform a stem cell differentiation protocol initially developed by Wilgenburg et al that gives rise to mononuclear cells [1]
Summary
We assessed the utility of a legacy liquid handling robot at performing a stem cell differentiation protocol that requires intricate and accurate movements. The robot is not equipped with a cell scraper tool, its gripper arm can be programmed to readily pick up and manipulate customized pieces of lab equipment We exploited this functionality and designed and 3D printed a custom cell scraper with 6 positions so that each scraper fit into one well of a 6-well plate for parallel processing (Fig. 1A). B We 3D printed a custom disposable “filter box” that allowed the automated liquid handling robot to filter the cells as described in the protocol by Wilgenburg et al (Fig. 1B). Legacy liquid handling robot used for autotmation protocols 3D printer used to print “scraper box” and “filter box” Used for filter box Media for culturing hESC Add to “spin media” Add to “spin media” Add to “spin media” Add to “spin media” Add to “spin media and mononuclear cell media Add to “mononuclear cell media” Add to “mononuclear cell media”. It is possible to equip the robot with a centrifuge if desired (Table 2)
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