New Adapters Provide Rapid and Efficient Cell Disruption and Sample Homogenisation

Retsch’s mixer mill MM 400 is a true multi-purpose mill in the lab: it is used for mixing and homogenising powders and suspensions within seconds and is also ideally suited for the disruption of biological cells as well as DNA/RNA and protein recovery.

A new adapter now allows for simultaneous cell disruption of up to 8 x 30 ml cell suspension in 50 ml Falcon tubes with glass beads. The oscillation frequency of the mill of up to 30 Hz and the process time can be individually adjusted according to application requirements. Depending on the type of cell (yeast, bacteria, microalgae, filamentous fungi) this method is greatly superior to manual procedures as it allows to reproducibly disrupt up to 240 ml of cell suspension within 20 seconds to 7 minutes without noticeable temperature increase. Another new adapter for 4 x 30 ml wide mouth bottles allows for processing up to 8 samples for applications like washing bacteria off tissue samples.

The adapter for 5 ml Eppendorf tubes is used for the homogenisation of cell suspensions, tough secretions or tissue pieces with a volume up to 3 ml (incl. buffer) in single-use tubes in one working run, i. e. without previous division of the sample. The adapter accommodates 5 Eppendorf tubes and two adapters can be clamped into the mill; hence, it is possible to simultaneously process 10 x 3 ml of sample material.

This highly flexible mixer mill is also used for the homogenisation of plants, soft cell tissue but also of harder sample materials.

Additional benefits include: grinding in dry, wet and cryogenic mode possible; screw-top grinding jars ensure loss-free processing; memory for 9 Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).