Not every lab can afford its own advanced analytical equipment or the years of training needed to operate it. That’s why La Trobe University built its Proteomics and Metabolomics Platform: to give researchers and industry access to top-tier tools and expert support, saving time and money in the process.
Designed to support research and development across health, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and more, the platform provides access not just to equipment but to a full-service team of specialists who can help with experimental design, training, technical support and data interpretation.
Small molecules, big data
At the core of the platform are ‘omics’ technologies: proteomics, which analyses the full set of proteins in a sample, and metabolomics, which examines small molecules to understand metabolism across systems from plants to humans.
The platform also offers mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) instruments: powerful techniques for analysing molecular structure and interactions that are essential for drug design and product development.
“Fundamentally, we are a group of people that use analytical instrumentation to learn about molecules,” says Dr Rohan Lowe, Senior Technician (Proteomics) at the Proteomics and Metabolomics Platform.
Proteomics services can detect subtle changes in proteins, like phosphorylation, that reveal the signals that cells are receiving and sending. The platform also supports biopharma needs for protein quality control and drug interaction studies.
Metabolomics capabilities cover a wide range of sample types – from blood and plants to soil and wastewater – with applications in hormone profiling, lipid analysis, drug monitoring and biomarker discovery.
The platform’s NMR capabilities were expanded in 2023, enabling detailed 3D structural analysis of chemicals and metabolites, even in complex mixtures or totally novel substances. Users can also access advanced tools like diffusion analysis and peptide modelling.
Bioinformatics services help to make sense of the vast data generated from these techniques. “These days, it often seems like having one ‘-ome’ is not enough – people need to collect multiple omics-style datasets at the same time from one experiment,” Dr Lowe says.
“We’re always looking into how we can raise the game by keeping our instrumentation up to date and establishing the latest techniques, so we can gain that advantage for our clients.”
Custom solutions and expert support
But users don’t just get access to machines: they can access expert advice on experimental design, training on the equipment, technical support and help interpreting data.
Researchers can be trained to use instruments themselves or they can rely on the platform’s staff for a full-service experience. “We offer a very flexible, custom, bespoke service that we can adapt to a user’s needs and level of expertise,” Dr Lowe says.
“You only pay for what you use. It’s more democratic – anyone can access what they need at a fair price.”
It’s a collaborative model that ensures projects run smoothly and produce reliable, actionable results. The highly skilled staff at the platform can “effectively act as another member of the team” for industry partners, saving valuable time and money that might otherwise be spent learning how to use the equipment or pinpoint where an experiment went wrong.
The platform’s experts often work closely with clients to troubleshoot challenges or guide them through unfamiliar territory. “Sometimes a client doesn’t know exactly what they need,” Dr Lowe says.
“We can sit down and have a conversation with them to help identify the issues and work out what processes they need.”
La Trobe provided access to essential resources that would have been prohibitively expensive for a start-up company: specialist scientific facilities, as well as access to the skills and capabilities of the team. Being able to utilise the platform was a real benefit to AdAlta.
Delivering results for industry partners
This support is especially valuable for pharmaceutical clients who need reliable, fast data to meet milestones or regulatory standards. “Someone developing a new drug might need to assure the TGA that two processes from different factories produce exactly the same drug,” Dr Lowe says. “That can take a few different techniques to answer.”
AdAlta, a clinical biotechnology company, is just one industry partner who has benefited from the facilities and expertise of the Proteomics and Metabolomics Platform. Researchers were able to test and develop unique new treatments for fibrotic diseases (scarring diseases, of which lung fibrosis is a common example). The platform provided critical quality control testing capabilities to ensure their protein-based therapeutics were being produced to precise standards before they moved into clinical trials.
“La Trobe provided access to essential resources that would have been prohibitively expensive for a start-up company: specialist scientific facilities, as well as access to the skills and capabilities of the team,” says AdAlta CEO Tim Oldham. “Being able to utilise the platform was a real benefit to AdAlta.”
Ultimately, the platform can help anyone from a student researcher to a global biotech firm with their research and development, focusing on efficient and reliable results – and no surprises.
“Reproducibility is of utmost importance in science,” Dr Lowe says. “You want confidence in what's going to happen, to test what you need to test, and to have a set of valid data you can rely on. That’s where we can help.”
For more information and to explore collaboration opportunities, visit La Trobe’s Proteomics and Metabolomics Platform website.
