Redondo Beach, CA - June 19, 2007 - An important and new technique in protein structure determination in solution is made possible with Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS). Its application is increasing exponentially, and provides a powerful tool which, when used in combination with other techniques, allows elucidation and correlation of the functional and structural domains of different classes of proteins and protein complexes in solution. The tedious task of filling and sealing precious samples of concentrated protein was simplified with an easy-to-use cell, pictured here, designed and developed by ALine in collaboration with Nozomi Ando, a graduate student in Sol Gruner's group at Cornell University.

"We had wonderful results with the SAXS cells you recently designed with Nozomi Ando; a paper has already been published." remarked Dr. Gillilan, staff scientist at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (MacCHESS) about the custom cells. He further noted, "Your adhesive laminate [used to bond the mica film] is the main reason the cells have worked so well for us." The paper reporting results with ALine's " 'homemade' cuvette of a plastic micro-machined disk" with its precision bio-micro-fluidic technology, was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and is referenced here. J Biol Chem. 2006 December 15; 281(50): 38122-38126.

Dr. Leanna Levine, CEO and Founder of ALine commented. "These custom cells are another example of the advantage our fabrication platform has in providing researchers and product developers a unique bio micro solution that is either impossible or prohibitively expensive to accomplish any other way. In this case the added functionality of the pressure sensitive adhesive on the top and the bottom of the cell eliminated the messy and error-prone step of manually gluing a thin mica X-ray window film to the cell. ALine's transparent polymer laminate layers also aided the research team in filling the devices with their protein solution samples."

The custom bio micro cell fabricated using ALine's unique laminate manufacturing platform, pictured here, is about the size of a dime. The channel leading from the outer edge to the center is used for sample introduction, and the notches on either side facilitate insertion into the synchrotron.

Using ALine's batch fabrication process, 500 cells were manufactured in a single run. The up-coming fabrication run will incorporate design changes to make sample introduction easier, highlighting the flexibility of ALine's unique laser patterned, polymer laminate fabrication platform that naturally accommodates further customization without additional investments in unnecessarily expensive re-tooling, common to other manufacturing methods.

ALine is a leading supplier of high functionality bio micro solutions to biological, healthcare, chemical, environmental, instrumentation and research markets.

More information at ALine, Inc.'s web site www.alineinc.com.