Protein Expression and Libraries Facility

Policies and User Fees

The Facility strives to offer competitive and affordable prices to customers, in addition to ensuring cost recovery of consumables and staff effort required to provide high quality service.  Pricing, therefore, considers all costs for consumables and the time involved in handling each step of a service offered.  Consumable prices are regularly updated to reflect the prices the
Facility is charged by commercial suppliers.

• All users are encouraged to contact the facility at proteinexp@wistar.org or 215-898-3814 to discuss the scope of the project, available services, and desired deliverables in order to quote appropriate service fees.

• Customer billing information and a valid 10 digit grant number (Wistar Cancer Center members only) or PO# (all external users) must be provided prior to the initiation of any work.

• All work requests are initiated on a first-come-basis, with Cancer Center members receiving priority and all other user requests being fulfilled as soon as possible.

• Service fees are charged at the start of a specific job for all services offered.

• The PI and/or lab investigator supplying a plasmid or viral expression vector to the Facility is responsible for providing correct (verified) plasmid constructs and gene sequences for expression. The Facility is responsible for verifying any constructs that are produced within the facility, by facility staff, and for performing services correctly.

• Once a service is initiated, there will be no refunds even if canceled. It is at the discretion of the facility director whether a discount on a subsequent service will be offered.  The amount of the discount will be prorated based on the actual labor and expenses spent on the project before cancellation.

• Due to the uncertainties associated with volume of work and cell culture, the time frames provided for the various services are for orientation only. While, we will try our best to perform the services within the given time frames, we cannot guarantee them.

• Due to the intrinsic biochemical properties of each protein, we do not guarantee recombinant protein solubility, purity, or yield.  We will provide details of all expression trials, purification strategies, and provide consultation regarding alternative strategies or approaches to solve your protein expression needs. 

• Protein preparation services are ordered based on the cell culture volume.

• Due to variability in packaging of different retroviral vectors, we do not guarantee the production of a minimum titer.  We recommend, whenever possible that newly produced vectors are titrated.

• It is the responsibility of the investigator to register the intended specific use of recombinant DNA technology (i.e. retrovirus use) with Wistar’s Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) as required by  the most current NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules. For a copy of this document, click here. For a full description of requirements, please consult the NIH Guidelines web site.

• Please acknowledge the Protein Expression and Libraries Facility if the materials generated by the Facility leads to publication data.

• We appreciate your feedback!