Omni Bead Ruptor 96 Well Plate Homogenizer Accessories

Milling is a crucial process in pharmaceutical production and process control, used to enhance solubility and stability of drug compounds through particle size reduction. We explored optimizing dry milling parameters to achieve effective particle size distributions, as dry milling is typically preferred for maintaining product integrity and scalability. On the Omni bead mill homogenizer, optimal milling frequency for analgesics ranged from 25 Hz and 30 Hz, with the most significant particle size reduction occurring within the first minute of milling. Extended milling times beyond five minutes showed negligible additional reduction.

DNA analysis of skeletal remains is useful in various scientific fields as bones are known to preserve DNA longer than soft tissues. The extraction of genetic material from bones, however, is challenging due to the degradation of DNA over time and under different environmental conditions. We describe uses of a combination of chemical and mechanical methods to extract DNA from aged Bos taurus bones, focusing on overcoming the low yield of genetic recovery and preventing further degradation compared to fresh tissue.

Plants are essential to our diet and ecosystem; researchers are constantly working to better understand their genetic makeup and diversity. Traditional enzymatic lysis methods to extract plant DNA are time-consuming and can be inconsistent due to the toughness of their cell walls. Physical disruption via bead mill homogenization can be an efficient alternative to both rudimentary enzymatic and manual methods. We review the workflow and determine yields from staple crops such as corn, rice, and wheat in this application note. Automation-enabled solutions help scale throughput while providing consistent and efficient sample preparation and nucleic acid extraction from plant material.

In the field of pre-clinical and clinical research, sample sourcing and the realistic quantities of tissues or rare samples available for biological analysis can be a major challenge for researchers. Comprehensive studies typically rely on both genomic expression and proteomic profiling readouts to gain for meaningful insights into biological processes, disease progression, or a drug’s therapeutic value, amongst other scientific questions. Well-plate homogenization is an important tool for high-throughput, rapid tissue disruption via bead-milling in well-plates for downstream genomic and proteomic analysis. In this application note, DNA integrity and the protein repertoire assessed using LC-MS/MS techniques for bottom-up proteomic analysis is reviewed after homogenization from rat brain, heart, and small intestine using the same instrument setting for full sample disruption.

Bacterial research used to be limited by the need to plate or grow them in culture to amplify biological analytes for proper downstream analysis and detection. With the continued advances in genomic and proteomic techniques, however, methods such as qPCR and mass spectrophotometry has positively impacted the applicability of bacterial work within various applications in basic research and pre-clinical drug discovery. To help meet the speed at which analysis is now possible, labs can now leverage bead mill technologies in a 96-well plate format to support high-throughput processing. The Omni Bead Ruptor 96 homogenizer, in conjunction with 96-well plates pre-filled with 0.1 mm ceramic bead media, was evaluated for its efficiency in lysing E. coli and recovery of DNA, RNA, and proteins. The results showed high integrity and concentration of these analytes, suggesting a highly efficient system that can stand alone or be integrated with other high-throughput sample prep workflows for various downstream analyses.

Field sampling of mosquito followed by sample dissociation and DNA purification is a routine process for research that surveys the spread of vector-borne diseases. Researchers require a fast and repeatable sample preparation technique to rapidly dissociate a large number of mosquitoes while maintaining a high degree of vector and internal pathogen lysis for quantification of pathogen load. As the specimen sizes are relatively small and the number of samples is high, bead beating is an ideal method for high-throughput sample disaggregation. Herein, we demonstrate dissociation of Aedes aegypti using the Omni Bead Ruptor 96 bead mill homogenizer for the dissociation of mosquitos in both well-plates and tube format and assessment of the extracted DNA from homogenates by endpoint PCR.

Application note on Bead Ruptor 96 homogenization of hemp flower for cannabinoid analysis using HPLC-UV

Sample homogenization is essential in preparing hemp and cannabis samples for cannabinoid analysis. 96-well plate homogenization is a quick and robust method that can be optimized for hemp and cannabis, as it allows for simultaneous processing of multiple samples without the need for cleaning between runs. This method also offers benefits compared to traditional homogenizers, significantly reducing solvent use and increasing throughput, making it a reliable choice for particle size reduction in cannabinoid quantification.

In biomedical research, the ability to reliably extract DNA and RNA from fresh tissue samples is important for molecular applications. It provides an efficient alternative to traditional and manual methods, reducing total processing time and helping with sample-to-sample consistency. We demonstrate the use of the Omni Bead Ruptor Elite™ bead mill homogenizer with stainless-steel lysing/grinding cylinders to yield robust concentrations of DNA and RNA, suitable for downstream molecular applications. The stainless-steel lysing/grinding cylinders are durable and can also facilitate cryogenic sample preparation.

Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS) can lead to significant tissue damage, and it is an active field of immunology research. We outline a workflow for tissue lysate preparation and quantification of 13 key biomarkers relevant to CRS using the LEGENDplex™ panels and the Omni Bead Ruptor Elite homogenizer. The results show that bead mill homogenization is effective in disrupting tissues for cytokine quantification to support research on inflammatory processes.

Large seeds and nuts can be tough plant matrices resistant to consistent sample prep for downstream analysis; we describe a workflow useing the Omni Bead Ruptor™ 96, which allows for processing in both dry and buffered conditions, leading to high-integrity DNA at robust yields. Automation-enabled bead milling method allows matched throughput and compatibility with automated DNA extraction via the chemagic™ 360, offering a high-throughput solution that can significantly reduce labor-intensive, manual steps in the workflow. The approach utilizing sealed vessels rather than open tubes minimizes potential cross-contamination; hence, protocols described in this application note provides a consistent and efficient solution for downstream DNA-based applications, such as qPCR.

Food safety and determination of the quality of food products are key components within food testing. The detection and quantification of specific elements, such as heavy metals, pesticides, microbes, or their unwanted by-products, requires thorough and uniform homogenization, which can be challenging for foods such as confectionary treats. There is an immense variety of treats within snack foods that exhibit a range in toughness, strength, consistency, or stickiness. Cannabinoid-infused confectionary treats, commonly known as “edibles”, are growing in popularity for their recreational and medicinal purposes as an alternative method of cannabinoid delivery. In this case, the quantitative measurement of the working concentrations of active components such as CBD and THC are important to assess from both a research, safety, and regulatory perspective. Whatever the analyte in question that would undergo either chemical or molecular analysis, researchers need access to starting material that is homogenized as an initial step. In this application note, processing parameters for brownies, chocolates, gummies, and cookies in methanol as a diluent were determined. Homogenization was confirmed via visual inspection, where all sample types tested were processed in ~ 2 minutes. Within food testing, where throughput can be a bottleneck, an Omni Bead Ruptor homogenizer allows simultaneous processing of multiple samples to help expedite sample prep workflow. For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Teeth are valuable sample types for insights in gene ontology, as well as applications in enamel analysis or downstream proteomics. A bead mill homogenizer, in conjunction with durable steel grinding tubes, facilitate the workflow compared to traditional and often laborious lysis methods for hard and tough samples. Results from murine teeth homogenization is presented as a measure of total protein extraction, along with the recommended instrument settings on the Omni Bead Ruptor 96 bead mill homogenizer using 2 mL Stainless Steel Lysing/Grinding Cryo tubes. Importantly, the use of an automation-enabled tabletop homogenizer helps lab’s scale their throughput and obtain consistency in homogenates from tough tissues.