How It Works

Check the run schedule and reserve a spot in the queue for an upcoming high-throughput crystallization screening run (see the buttons above). 

1,536 non-redundant crystallization conditions are used to screen your sample using the microbatch-under-oil method, providing an efficient sampling of chemical parameter space.  Each condition is imaged using state-of-the-art Formulatrix Rock Imagers over a period of six weeks. Imaging modalities include visual (brightfield) and Second-Order Non-linear Imaging of Chiral Crystals (SONICC), which includes Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) and UV-Two Photon Excited Fluorescence (UV-TPEF) imaging. SHG and UV-TPEF imaging can identify biological crystals not picked up visually or those obscured by precipitate. Brightfield, SHG, and UV-TPEF images are integrated with analysis software provided as part of the crystallization screening service.  Click here to access the current crystallization cocktail lists.

Reminder to Acknowledge the National High-Throughput Crystallization Center and Funding Agencies

We are grateful that NIH and NSF funding enables us to provide efficient high-throughput crystallization screening to academic, non-profit and government laboratories at a reduced rate. Please remember to cite the appropriate grant funding for your crystallization screening experiments.

• For non-SARS-CoV-2 samples, we request that the NIH R24 National Resource grant is acknowledged in any publications. Please note that with the new funding, the NIH grant number is now R24GM141256. We suggest the following language: Crystallization screening at the National Crystallization Center at HWI was supported through NIH grant R24GM141256.
• For SARS-CoV-2 samples,  NSF RAPID funding was available for users through April 2022. If your lab made use of this funding resource, we request that the NSF grant is acknowledged in any publications. We suggest the following language: Crystallization screening at the National Crystallization Center at HWI was supported through NSF grant 2029943 and NIH grant R24GM141256.

Additionally, it would be helpful if the experimental methods references the Crystallization Center using this reference for the soluble screen:  Luft, J. R., et al. (2003). A deliberate approach to screening for initial crystallization conditions of biological macromolecules. J. Struct. Biol. 142, 170-179. 

For the membrane screen, please cite this reference: Koszelak‐Rosenblum, M., et al. (2009). Determination and application of empirically derived detergent phase boundaries to effectively crystallize membrane proteins. Protein Science, 18(9), 1828-1839.

These citations help us to track publications and PDB depositions, an important metric of productivity that will help secure future funding for the Crystallization Center.

National Crystallization Center Team

Updates to Email Announcement List (August 2022)

We have recently updated our email user list server! To receive emails with upcoming reservations deadlines and updates from the HTX Center, sign up by sending an email to crystallization-subscribe@chtsb.org with a blank subject line.  Please make sure to respond to the confirmation email to successfully add your email to the list. If you have any difficulties, please reach out to us at htslab@hwi.buffalo.edu.

Shipping Reminders (July 2022)

We’ve been observing a lot of delays from FedEx shipping, so wanted to post some reminders about shipping samples (especially during the heat of summer!).

1) Send the protein in a clearly labeled 1.5 ml eppendorf tube placed inside of a protective container (such as a Falcon tube).
2) For shipping, we make the following recommendations:

• • • •      Ship on Monday-Wednesday to reduce the risk of a weekend delivery delay.
      •      Use an insulated Styrofoam shipping container.
      •      Use dry ice for frozen samples.
      •      Use gel packs to maintain 4°C or 23°C sample temperatures.
      •      Send the tracking number to htslab@hwi.buffalo.edu
        

Given the delays we’ve been seeing, we are also encouraging you to make sure that your sample has enough ice or dry ice to last for 2+ days.  Also, we’ve noticed that shipping via FedEx Priority Overnight (as opposed to Standard Overnight) has a better chance of getting the samples to us by the next day. Please keep an eye on the tracking information on your end, as well, as sometimes a phone call to FedEx from the sender can expedite sample delivery.

MARCO Polo & macOS Upgrades  (June 2022)

Please note that we are still testing new macOS options for MARCO Polo for Monterey MacOS with the M1 chips.  Both image viewing software GUIs work with macOS Catalina, Big Sur, and Monterey with Intel chips, but if you are having trouble with installation, let us know – we can walk through troubleshooting with solutions we’ve found work.

MARCO Polo Image Viewing GUI (April 2021)

We are excited to announce that the new GUI for automated crystal hit scoring is available to users!  MARCO Polo currently works with the high-throughput 1,536 screening metadata and images from the Crystallization Center.  It is open-source and we would love to collaborate on making MARCO more available to crystallographers everywhere!

Open-source and on GitHub – available to download: https://hauptman-woodward.github.io/Marco_Polo/

MARCO Polo implements the MAchine Recognition of Crystallization Outcomes (MARCO) and interfaces directly with our high-throughput 1,536 crystallization screening images and metadata from the Crystallization Center.

Supported by NSF BioXFEL STC Grant Number 1231306, NSF BIO 2029943, NIH R24 GM124135