To make use of the Crystallization Center

What you get:

• 1,536 microbatch-under-oil crystallization screening experiments set up with your sample.
• Email notification and access to brightfield images of your experimental outcomes as they are recorded:
• cocktail only prior to adding sample (control)
• day 1
• weeks 1, 2, 3, 4 & 6
• Email notification and access to images from a Formulatrix Rock Imager 1000 SHG (to identify chiral crystals) and UV-TPEF (to determine if crystals are biological).
• These images are taken either at ~4 weeks (23°C samples) or ~6 weeks (4°C or 14°C samples) – you choose the protocol.
• Actual read time may vary slightly and is dependent upon the availability of the system. 
• There are a total of nine sets of images recorded over the 6 week experimental time period.
  
• MARCO Polo software (python-base, multi-platform) to autoscore, view, annotate, and analyze images.
• MacroScopeJ software (Java-based, multi-platform) to view, annotate, and analyze images as well as associated chemical data.
• Optional: A report on the crystallization results identifying potential crystallization lead conditions and observations based on the results.

Typically the experimental error for delivery of cocktails and/or protein is < 5% (most often the error is < 1%) and we use control experiments to rapidly identify and address any issues that arise.

Other information:

Physical samples: The crystallization plates have been used for in situ X-ray data collection with some success. We normally destroy plates shortly after screening but can return them to the client. Our studies show that crystals can remain stable during shipping, even overseas, but we cannot guarantee this. A small amount of sample is recovered as dead volume. This is normally destroyed but can be stored for follow-up experiments or returned to the client.

Acknowledgments:  If the Center assists you in identifying initial crystallization conditions that are ultimately published, we request that the experimental methods reference the Crystallization Center using one of the updated references for the soluble and membrane screens.

• Lynch, ML, Snell, ME, Potter, SA, Snell, EH & Bowman, SEJ (2023). 20 years of crystal hits: progress and promise in ultrahigh-throughput crystallization screening. Acta Cryst. D79, 198-205.
  
• Budziszewski, GR, Snell, ME, Wright, TR, Lynch, ML & Bowman, SEJ (2023). High-Throughput Screening to Obtain Crystal Hits for Protein Crystallography. J. Vis. Exp. (193), e65211.

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

Special requirements: We can often accommodate special requirements and requests. If possible these should be discussed in advance with Dr. Bowman in consultation with the Crystallization Center team. We can also be responsive to needs during the crystallization process. 

More Information about the Center