The Crystallization Center has been a resource for structural biology providing enhanced high-throughput crystallization screening for SARS-CoV-2 protein samples. Dr. Sarah Bowman gave a lightning talk update on our progress at the COVID Commons with the Northesat Big Data Innovation Hub!  We are providing crystallization screening experiments through our NSF RAPID funding.

Summer intern Ethan Hollerman won a Student Poster Prize at the 2020 LCLS/SSRL Users' Meeting for his work on implementing the MARCO algorithm into a new GUI!  MARCO POLO is a multi-platform open-source Python-based graphical user interface that has been developed to provide access to MARCO automated classification and data management tools for biomolecular crystallization screening. MARCO is an academic and industry collaboration using image data from the Crystallization Center, Bristol-Myers...

Crystal structures of AztD from pathogenic bacteria by Crystallization Center user Professor Erik Yukl and team reveal mechanistic insights into zinc transfer!  Initial crystal hits were obtained in the Crystallization Center and were optimized by the investigators using hanging drop vapor diffusion and microbatch under oil. High resolution diffraction data collected at the Advanced Light Source. Neupane, DP, et al. Crystal structures of AztD provide mechanistic insights into direct zinc...

The COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has become a pandemic health crisis. An attractive target for antiviral inhibitors is the main protease 3CL Mpro due to its essential role in processing the polyproteins translated from viral RNA. The Crystallization Center worked with samples from Oak Ridge National Laboratory to help a study on room temperature X-ray structure of unliganded SARS-CoV-2 3CL Mpro. Inital crystal hits helped the researchers determine the ligand-free...

Transforming growth factor -1 (TGF-1) is a secreted signaling protein that directs many cellular processes and is an attractive target for the treatment of several diseases. This study looks at the regulatory mechanism of TGF-1 and is of fundamental importance for therapeutic development. Initial crystal hits were obtained from the Crystallization Center and X-ray data were collected on the IMCA beamline at the Advanced Photon Source. The study was published in a paper entitled “Structural...

Mutations in ABC subfamily C member 6 (ABCC6) transporter are associated with pseudoxanthoma elasticum, a disease resulting in ectopic mineralization and affecting multiple tissues. The Thibodeau Group recent paper explores these mutations. Crystallization screening of multiple proteins took place in the Crystallization Center with hits being optimized by the authors using sitting-drop vapor diffusion methods. Crystallographic data was collected on a Rigaku FR-E Superbright rotating anode...