Jump to content

Cryo bio-crystallography: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
m tempertures->temperatures - Fix a typo in one click
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit Advanced mobile edit
Line 2: Line 2:


==Basic principles==
==Basic principles==
Cryo crystallography enables [[X-ray]] data collection at cryogenic tempertures, typically 100K.
Cryo crystallography enables [[X-ray]] data collection at cryogenic temperatures, typically 100K.


#Crystals are transferred from the solution they have grown in (called mother liquor) to a solution with a cryo-protectant to prevent ice formation.
#Crystals are transferred from the solution they have grown in (called mother liquor) to a solution with a cryo-protectant to prevent ice formation.

Revision as of 11:17, 8 February 2020

Cryo bio-crystallography is the application of crystallography to biological macromolecules at cryogenic temperatures.

Basic principles

Cryo crystallography enables X-ray data collection at cryogenic temperatures, typically 100K.

  1. Crystals are transferred from the solution they have grown in (called mother liquor) to a solution with a cryo-protectant to prevent ice formation.
  2. Crystals are mounted with a glass fiber (as opposed to a capillary)
  3. Crystals are cooled by dipping directly into liquid nitrogen and then placed in a cryo cold stream.
  4. Cryo cooled macromolecular crystals show reduced radiation damage by more than 70 times that at room temperature.

Advantages

  1. Significant improvement of resolution in data collection
  2. Reduced or eliminated radiation damage in crystals

Usefulness and applications

Crystallography of large biological macromolecules can be achieved while maintaining their solution state. The most known example is the ribosome.[1]

References

  1. ^ Hope H (1988). "Cryocrystallography of biological macromolecules: a generally applicable method". Acta Crystallogr. B. 44 (1): 22–26. doi:10.1107/s0108768187008632. PMID 3271102.