LNP clean-up & concentration

The problem

After lipid nanoparticles (LNP) are formed, organic solvents like ethanol need to be removed quickly to maintain drug encapsulation and LNP integrity. Dialysis is often used but takes longer and requires a secondary concentration step to reduce the sample volume.

The right tools for the job

Lil' Tuna is the first fully automated, plate-based benchtop buffer exchange system built for proteins, nucleic acids, and gene therapy vectors at any scale. Lil’ Tuna concentrates or exchanges 96- and 24-well plates for higher throughput or up to 6 individual samples in parallel — all on the same instrument. Its pressure-based ultrafiltration/diafiltration (UF/DF) approach keeps things flowing efficiently, tracks sample volumes and accurately adds buffer throughout the run, handling every step of the exchange cycle automatically from start to finish.
Lil-Tuna_workflow
Lil’ Tuna uses a variety of consumables depending on your throughput needs. For higher throughput, there are plate-based consumables called Unfilters. All Unfilters use a regenerated cellulose membrane which minimizes non-specific binding. They come in 2 formats, 96-well (100 – 450 µL) or 24-well (0.45 – 8 mL).  For single samples, there are individual sample wells called Unas. Each Una holds 0.45 to 8 mL of sample and Lil’ Tuna handles 1-6 Unas per run. Unas have either regenerated cellulose or polyethersulfone membranes allowing you to choose which works for your sample. Both Unfilters and Unas are designed to make sure your samples stay put, don’t get absorbed, and the liquid passes right through — with ≥96% recovery. So no matter what size the sample is or what volume is available, Lil’ Tuna has the right format.
Whatever floats your throughput boat

Lil' Tuna

Lil’ Tuna is the first automated, plate-based ultrafiltration and diafiltration (UF/DF) system for buffer exchanging, concentrating, or desalting proteins, viral vectors and nucleic acids - with consistently high recoveries. Process 1 to 96 samples in parallel with minimal hands-on time and achieve consistent and reliable sample prep for formulation screening, stability testing or any other downstream assay.

Meet Lil' Tuna
Image of Lil Tuna instrument

Want more info?

Want to learn more about how Lil' Tuna can help you prep your lipid nanoparticles?

Get In touch

related applications

Quantification & sizing
Nucleic acid quantification