Manchester Protein Structure Facility
The Manchester Protein Structure Facility (MPSF) provides cutting edge high resolution structural biology services across industry and academia.
We offer a comprehensive pipeline including construct design, streamlined crystallisation screening, data collection and refinement.
Working with us
Managed by Dr Colin Levy, the Manchester Protein Structure Facility supports researchers to define the 3D architecture of proteins and small molecules through X-ray crystallography.
By working with us, you receive decision‑ready structural evidence to validate targets, explain function and support translation. We shape the experiment, collect and refine data, and deliver an interpretable structure with clear outputs to help the understanding of enzyme catalysis, protein-protein interactions, and the structural basis of disease.
The facility offers:
Nanolitre crystallogenesis and seeding optimisation against 6 commercial screens
Aerobic and anaerobic crystallogenesis and crystal harvesting
Automated imaging of crystallisation plates
High throughput single crystal data collection
Extensive rapid access to Diamond Light Source through a Block Allocation Group
Inhouse single crystal micro spectrophotometry
Access to i24 microfocus beamline at Diamond Light Source for fixed target time resolved serial crystallography
Access to global XFEL facilities for ultra-fast time resolved data collection
11,000+ data sets collected per year
12 Nature and Nature sister journal publications in 5 years
3,500+ citations since 2021
Our equipment
Mosquito Crystal
General nanolitre drop setting.
Mosquito LCP
General nanolitre drop setting plus lipidic cubic phase capabilities.
Anaerobic Mosquito Crystal
Full anaerobic nanolitre crystal screening capabilities. The Mosquito is housed in a large glove box facilitating both screening and crystal harvesting under anaerobic conditions.
JANSI UVEX imaging hotel
Automated UV and bright field image capture of screening plates, temperature-controlled 4°C.
Our impact
Our projects support the MIB’s research missions by accelerating technology development, biomanufacturing routes to sustainable chemicals and materials, platforms for advanced therapeutics, and biological solutions for environmental protection. Working with MIB’s cross-disciplinary teams, we provide collaborative access, training and clear handover so partners can adopt, sustain and grow capability.
