Identifying, studying and making good use of macromolecular crystals
نویسندگان
چکیده
Structural biology has contributed tremendous knowledge to the understanding of life on the molecular scale. The Protein Data Bank, a depository of this structural knowledge, currently contains over 100,000 protein structures, with the majority stemming from X-ray crystallography. As the name might suggest, crystallography requires crystals. As detectors become more sensitive and X-ray sources more intense, the notion of a crystal is gradually changing from one large enough to embellish expensive jewellery to objects that have external dimensions of the order of the wavelength of visible light. Identifying these crystals is a prerequisite to their study. This paper discusses developments in identifying these crystals during crystallization screening and distinguishing them from other potential outcomes. The practical aspects of ensuring that once a crystal is identified it can then be positioned in the X-ray beam for data collection are also addressed.
منابع مشابه
Pathological crystallography: case studies of several unusual macromolecular crystals.
Although macromolecular crystallography is rapidly becoming largely routine owing to advances in methods of data collection, structure solution and refinement, difficult cases are still common. To remind structural biologists about the kinds of crystallographic difficulties that might be encountered, case studies of several successfully completed structure determinations that utilized less than...
متن کاملAdvances in spectroscopic methods for biological crystals. 2. Raman spectroscopy
A Raman microspectrophotometer is described that allows the spectroscopic investigation of protein crystals under exactly the same conditions as those used for X-ray data collection. The concept is based on the integration of the Raman excitation/collection optics into a microspectrophotometer built around a singleaxis diffractometer and a cooling device. It is shown that Raman spectra of outst...
متن کاملThe use of a mini-κ goniometer head in macromolecular crystallography diffraction experiments
Most macromolecular crystallography (MX) diffraction experiments at synchrotrons use a single-axis goniometer. This markedly contrasts with small-molecule crystallography, in which the majority of the diffraction data are collected using multi-axis goniometers. A novel miniaturized κ-goniometer head, the MK3, has been developed to allow macromolecular crystals to be aligned. It is available on ...
متن کاملVisualization of membrane protein crystals in lipid cubic phase using X-ray imaging
The focus in macromolecular crystallography is moving towards even more challenging target proteins that often crystallize on much smaller scales and are frequently mounted in opaque or highly refractive materials. It is therefore essential that X-ray beamline technology develops in parallel to accommodate such difficult samples. In this paper, the use of X-ray microradiography and microtomogra...
متن کاملIdentifying Effective Factors in Making Smart Hospitals: A Qualitative Study (Content Analysis)
Introduction: Smartening hospitals can be effective in improving the quality and providing faster and better services and increasing the possibility of tracking and security of the equipment in the hospital. The current research aims to identifying effective factors in making hospitals smarter. Methods: The present research is a qualitative method of content analysis. The statistical populatio...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
عنوان ژورنال:
دوره 70 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2014