1
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Shock Damage Analysis in Serial Femtosecond Crystallography Data Collected at MHz X-ray Free-Electron Lasers. CRYSTALS 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/cryst10121145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) data were recorded at the European X-ray free-electron laser facility (EuXFEL) with protein microcrystals delivered via a microscopic liquid jet. An XFEL beam striking such a jet may launch supersonic shock waves up the jet, compromising the oncoming sample. To investigate this efficiently, we employed a novel XFEL pulse pattern to nominally expose the sample to between zero and four shock waves before being probed. Analyzing hit rate, indexing rate, and resolution for diffraction data recorded at MHz pulse rates, we found no evidence of damage. Notably, however, this conclusion could only be drawn after careful identification and assimilation of numerous interrelated experimental factors, which we describe in detail. Failure to do so would have led to an erroneous conclusion. Femtosecond photography of the sample-carrying jet revealed critically different jet behavior from that of all homogeneous liquid jets studied to date in this manner.
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2
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Birch J, Axford D, Foadi J, Meyer A, Eckhardt A, Thielmann Y, Moraes I. The fine art of integral membrane protein crystallisation. Methods 2018; 147:150-162. [PMID: 29778646 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2018.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2018] [Revised: 05/13/2018] [Accepted: 05/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Integral membrane proteins are among the most fascinating and important biomolecules as they play a vital role in many biological functions. Knowledge of their atomic structures is fundamental to the understanding of their biochemical function and key in many drug discovery programs. However, over the years, structure determination of integral membrane proteins has proven to be far from trivial, hence they are underrepresented in the protein data bank. Low expression levels, insolubility and instability are just a few of the many hurdles one faces when studying these proteins. X-ray crystallography has been the most used method to determine atomic structures of membrane proteins. However, the production of high quality membrane protein crystals is always very challenging, often seen more as art than a rational experiment. Here we review valuable approaches, methods and techniques to successful membrane protein crystallisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Birch
- Membrane Protein Laboratory, Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, UK; Research Complex at Harwell, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Danny Axford
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, UK
| | - James Foadi
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
| | - Arne Meyer
- XtalConcepts GmbH, Schnackenburgallee 13, 22525 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Annette Eckhardt
- XtalConcepts GmbH, Schnackenburgallee 13, 22525 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Yvonne Thielmann
- Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Molecular Membrane Biology, Max-von-Laue-Strasse 3, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Isabel Moraes
- Research Complex at Harwell, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK; Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, UK; National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Road, Teddington TW11 0LW, UK.
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3
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X-ray free electron laser: opportunities for drug discovery. Essays Biochem 2017; 61:529-542. [PMID: 29118098 DOI: 10.1042/ebc20170031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2017] [Revised: 10/02/2017] [Accepted: 10/03/2017] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Past decades have shown the impact of structural information derived from complexes of drug candidates with their protein targets to facilitate the discovery of safe and effective medicines. Despite recent developments in single particle cryo-electron microscopy, X-ray crystallography has been the main method to derive structural information. The unique properties of X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) with unmet peak brilliance and beam focus allow X-ray diffraction data recording and successful structure determination from smaller and weaker diffracting crystals shortening timelines in crystal optimization. To further capitalize on the XFEL advantage, innovations in crystal sample delivery for the X-ray experiment, data collection and processing methods are required. This development was a key contributor to serial crystallography allowing structure determination at room temperature yielding physiologically more relevant structures. Adding the time resolution provided by the femtosecond X-ray pulse will enable monitoring and capturing of dynamic processes of ligand binding and associated conformational changes with great impact to the design of candidate drug compounds.
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4
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Abstract
A synopsis of and prospects for de novo phasing using diffraction data collected at X-ray free-electron lasers are given.
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5
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Mylona A, Carr S, Aller P, Moraes I, Treisman R, Evans G, Foadi J. A Novel Approach to Data Collection for Difficult Structures: Data Management for Large Numbers of Crystals with the BLEND Software. CRYSTALS 2017; 7:242. [PMID: 29456874 PMCID: PMC5813789 DOI: 10.3390/cryst7080242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The present article describes how to use the computer program BLEND to help assemble complete datasets for the solution of macromolecular structures, starting from partial or complete datasets, derived from data collection from multiple crystals. The program is demonstrated on more than two hundred X-ray diffraction datasets obtained from 50 crystals of a complex formed between the SRF transcription factor, its cognate DNA, and a peptide from the SRF cofactor MRTF-A. This structure is currently in the process of being fully solved. While full details of the structure are not yet available, the repeated application of BLEND on data from this structure, as they have become available, has made it possible to produce electron density maps clear enough to visualise the potential location of MRTF sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasia Mylona
- Signalling and Transcription Laboratory, Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, London NW1 1AT, UK
| | - Stephen Carr
- Research Complex at Harwell, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxford OX11 0FA, UK
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Pierre Aller
- Diamond Light Source Ltd., Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, UK
| | - Isabel Moraes
- Diamond Light Source Ltd., Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, UK
| | - Richard Treisman
- Signalling and Transcription Laboratory, Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, London NW1 1AT, UK
| | - Gwyndaf Evans
- Diamond Light Source Ltd., Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, UK
| | - James Foadi
- Diamond Light Source Ltd., Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, UK
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6
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Abstract
AbstractIn 1912, Max von Laue and collaborators first observed diffraction spots from a millimeter-sized crystal of copper sulfate using an X-ray tube. Crystallography was born of this experiment, and since then, diffraction by both X-rays and electrons has revealed a myriad of inorganic and organic structures, including structures of complex protein assemblies. Advancements in X-ray sources have spurred a revolution in structure determination, facilitated by the development of new methods. This review explores some of the frontier methods that are shaping the future of X-ray diffraction, including coherent diffractive imaging, serial femtosecond X-ray crystallography and small-angle X-ray scattering. Collectively, these methods expand the current limits of structure determination in biological systems across multiple length and time scales.
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7
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Selenium single-wavelength anomalous diffraction de novo phasing using an X-ray-free electron laser. Nat Commun 2016; 7:13388. [PMID: 27811937 PMCID: PMC5097167 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2016] [Accepted: 09/28/2016] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Structural information about biological macromolecules near the atomic scale provides important insight into the functions of these molecules. To date, X-ray crystallography has been the predominant method used for macromolecular structure determination. However, challenges exist when solving structures with X-rays, including the phase problem and radiation damage. X-ray-free electron lasers (X-ray FELs) have enabled collection of diffraction information before the onset of radiation damage, yet the majority of structures solved at X-ray FELs have been phased using external information via molecular replacement. De novo phasing at X-ray FELs has proven challenging due in part to per-pulse variations in intensity and wavelength. Here we report the solution of a selenobiotinyl-streptavidin structure using phases obtained by the anomalous diffraction of selenium measured at a single wavelength (Se-SAD) at the Linac Coherent Light Source. Our results demonstrate Se-SAD, routinely employed at synchrotrons for novel structure determination, is now possible at X-ray FELs. X-ray free electron lasers are increasingly available for use in macromolecular structure determination. Here, the authors describe the successful use of selenium single-wavelength anomalous diffraction data to calculate experimentally derived phases.
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8
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Foucar L. CFEL-ASG Software Suite ( CASS): usage for free-electron laser experiments with biological focus. J Appl Crystallogr 2016; 49:1336-1346. [PMID: 27504079 PMCID: PMC4970498 DOI: 10.1107/s1600576716009201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2015] [Accepted: 06/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
CASS [Foucar et al. (2012). Comput. Phys. Commun.183, 2207-2213] is a well established software suite for experiments performed at any sort of light source. It is based on a modular design and can easily be adapted for use at free-electron laser (FEL) experiments that have a biological focus. This article will list all the additional functionality and enhancements of CASS for use with FEL experiments that have been introduced since the first publication. The article will also highlight some advanced experiments with biological aspects that have been performed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lutz Foucar
- Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany
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9
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Ginn HM, Roedig P, Kuo A, Evans G, Sauter NK, Ernst OP, Meents A, Mueller-Werkmeister H, Miller RJD, Stuart DI. TakeTwo: an indexing algorithm suited to still images with known crystal parameters. Acta Crystallogr D Struct Biol 2016; 72:956-65. [PMID: 27487826 PMCID: PMC4973211 DOI: 10.1107/s2059798316010706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2016] [Accepted: 07/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The indexing methods currently used for serial femtosecond crystallography were originally developed for experiments in which crystals are rotated in the X-ray beam, providing significant three-dimensional information. On the other hand, shots from both X-ray free-electron lasers and serial synchrotron crystallography experiments are still images, in which the few three-dimensional data available arise only from the curvature of the Ewald sphere. Traditional synchrotron crystallography methods are thus less well suited to still image data processing. Here, a new indexing method is presented with the aim of maximizing information use from a still image given the known unit-cell dimensions and space group. Efficacy for cubic, hexagonal and orthorhombic space groups is shown, and for those showing some evidence of diffraction the indexing rate ranged from 90% (hexagonal space group) to 151% (cubic space group). Here, the indexing rate refers to the number of lattices indexed per image.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen Mary Ginn
- Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, England
| | - Philip Roedig
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Anling Kuo
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, King's College Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada
| | - Gwyndaf Evans
- Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Fermi Avenue, Didcot OX11 0QX, England
| | - Nicholas K Sauter
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Oliver P Ernst
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, King's College Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada
| | - Alke Meents
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | | | - R J Dwayne Miller
- Atomically Resolved Dynamics, Max-Planck-Institute for Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, Hamburg, Germany
| | - David Ian Stuart
- Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, England
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10
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Ginn HM, Evans G, Sauter NK, Stuart DI. On the release of cppxfel for processing X-ray free-electron laser images. J Appl Crystallogr 2016; 49:1065-1072. [PMID: 27275149 PMCID: PMC4886992 DOI: 10.1107/s1600576716006981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2015] [Accepted: 04/25/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
As serial femtosecond crystallography expands towards a variety of delivery methods, including chip-based methods, and smaller collected data sets, the requirement to optimize the data analysis to produce maximum structure quality is becoming increasingly pressing. Here cppxfel, a software package primarily written in C++, which showcases several data analysis techniques, is released. This software package presently indexes images using DIALS (diffraction integration for advanced light sources) and performs an initial orientation matrix refinement, followed by post-refinement of individual images against a reference data set. Cppxfel is released with the hope that the unique and useful elements of this package can be repurposed for existing software packages. However, as released, it produces high-quality crystal structures and is therefore likely to be also useful to experienced users of X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) software who wish to maximize the information extracted from a limited number of XFEL images.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen Mary Ginn
- Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Gwyndaf Evans
- Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Fermi Avenue, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 QX, UK
| | - Nicholas K. Sauter
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
| | - David Ian Stuart
- Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX3 7BN, UK
- Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Fermi Avenue, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 QX, UK
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11
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Lunin VY, Lunina NL, Petrova TE, Baumstark MW, Urzhumtsev AG. Mask-based approach to phasing of single-particle diffraction data. ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D-STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY 2016; 72:147-57. [DOI: 10.1107/s2059798315022652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2015] [Accepted: 11/25/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
A Monte Carlo-type approach for low- and medium-resolution phasing of single-particle diffraction data is suggested. Firstly, the single-particle phase problem is substituted with the phase problem for an imaginary crystal. A unit cell of this crystal contains a single isolated particle surrounded by a large volume of bulk solvent. The developed phasing procedure then generates a large number of connected and finite molecular masks, calculates their Fourier coefficients, selects the sets with magnitudes that are highly correlated with the experimental values and finally aligns the selected phase sets and calculates the averaged phase values. A test with the known structure of monomeric photosystem II resulted in phases that have 97% correlation with the exact phases in the full 25 Å resolution shell (1054 structure factors) and correlations of 99, 94, 81 and 79% for the resolution shells ∞–60, 60–40, 40–30 and 30–25 Å, respectively. The same procedure may be used for crystallographicab initiophasing.
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12
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Affiliation(s)
- Elspeth F. Garman
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Martin Weik
- University Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
- CNRS, IBS, Grenoble, France
- CEA, IBS, Grenoble, France
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13
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Nakane T, Song C, Suzuki M, Nango E, Kobayashi J, Masuda T, Inoue S, Mizohata E, Nakatsu T, Tanaka T, Tanaka R, Shimamura T, Tono K, Joti Y, Kameshima T, Hatsui T, Yabashi M, Nureki O, Iwata S, Sugahara M. Native sulfur/chlorine SAD phasing for serial femtosecond crystallography. ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA. SECTION D, BIOLOGICAL CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 2015; 71:2519-25. [PMID: 26627659 PMCID: PMC4667287 DOI: 10.1107/s139900471501857x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2015] [Accepted: 10/04/2015] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) allows structures to be determined with minimal radiation damage. However, phasing native crystals in SFX is not very common. Here, the structure determination of native lysozyme from single-wavelength anomalous diffraction (SAD) by utilizing the anomalous signal of sulfur and chlorine at a wavelength of 1.77 Å is successfully demonstrated. This sulfur SAD method can be applied to a wide range of proteins, which will improve the determination of native crystal structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takanori Nakane
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Changyong Song
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
- Department of Physics, POSTECH, Pohang 790-784, Republic of Korea
| | - Mamoru Suzuki
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
- Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, 3-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Eriko Nango
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
| | - Jun Kobayashi
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
| | - Tetsuya Masuda
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
- Division of Food Science and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan
| | - Shigeyuki Inoue
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Eiichi Mizohata
- Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Toru Nakatsu
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
- Department of Structural Biology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, 46-29 Yoshida Shimoadachi-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
| | - Tomoyuki Tanaka
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
| | - Rie Tanaka
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
| | - Tatsuro Shimamura
- Department of Cell Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Yoshidakonoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
| | - Kensuke Tono
- Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5198, Japan
| | - Yasumasa Joti
- Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5198, Japan
| | - Takashi Kameshima
- Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5198, Japan
| | - Takaki Hatsui
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
| | - Makina Yabashi
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
| | - Osamu Nureki
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - So Iwata
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
- Department of Cell Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Yoshidakonoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
| | - Michihiro Sugahara
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
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14
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Galli L, Son SK, Barends TRM, White TA, Barty A, Botha S, Boutet S, Caleman C, Doak RB, Nanao MH, Nass K, Shoeman RL, Timneanu N, Santra R, Schlichting I, Chapman HN. Towards phasing using high X-ray intensity. IUCRJ 2015; 2:627-34. [PMID: 26594370 PMCID: PMC4645107 DOI: 10.1107/s2052252515014049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2014] [Accepted: 07/24/2015] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) show great promise for macromolecular structure determination from sub-micrometre-sized crystals, using the emerging method of serial femtosecond crystallography. The extreme brightness of the XFEL radiation can multiply ionize most, if not all, atoms in a protein, causing their scattering factors to change during the pulse, with a preferential 'bleaching' of heavy atoms. This paper investigates the effects of electronic damage on experimental data collected from a Gd derivative of lysozyme microcrystals at different X-ray intensities, and the degree of ionization of Gd atoms is quantified from phased difference Fourier maps. A pattern sorting scheme is proposed to maximize the ionization contrast and the way in which the local electronic damage can be used for a new experimental phasing method is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Galli
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, Hamburg, 22607, Germany
- Department of Physics, University of Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, Hamburg, 22761, Germany
| | - Sang-Kil Son
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, Hamburg, 22607, Germany
- The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging, Luruper Chaussee 149, Hamburg, 22761, Germany
| | - Thomas R. M. Barends
- Biomolecular Mechanisms, MPI for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany
| | - Thomas A. White
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, Hamburg, 22607, Germany
| | - Anton Barty
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, Hamburg, 22607, Germany
| | - Sabine Botha
- Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany
| | - Sébastien Boutet
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, 94025, USA
| | - Carl Caleman
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, Hamburg, 22607, Germany
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, Uppsala, 75120, Sweden
| | - R. Bruce Doak
- Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany
| | - Max H. Nanao
- EMBL, Grenoble Outstation, Rue Jules Horowitz 6, Grenoble, 38042, France
| | - Karol Nass
- Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany
| | - Robert L. Shoeman
- Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany
| | - Nicusor Timneanu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, Uppsala, 75120, Sweden
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Box 596, Uppsala, 75124, Sweden
| | - Robin Santra
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, Hamburg, 22607, Germany
- The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging, Luruper Chaussee 149, Hamburg, 22761, Germany
- Department of Physics, University of Hamburg, Juniungstrasse 6, Hamburg, 20355, Germany
| | - Ilme Schlichting
- Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany
| | - Henry N. Chapman
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, Hamburg, 22607, Germany
- Department of Physics, University of Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, Hamburg, 22761, Germany
- The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging, Luruper Chaussee 149, Hamburg, 22761, Germany
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15
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Kern J, Yachandra VK, Yano J. Metalloprotein structures at ambient conditions and in real-time: biological crystallography and spectroscopy using X-ray free electron lasers. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2015; 34:87-98. [PMID: 26342144 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2015.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2015] [Revised: 07/23/2015] [Accepted: 07/24/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Although the structure of enzymes and the chemistry at the catalytic sites have been studied intensively, an understanding of the atomic-scale chemistry requires a new approach beyond steady state X-ray crystallography and X-ray spectroscopy at cryogenic temperatures. Following the dynamic changes in the geometric and electronic structure of metallo-enzymes at ambient conditions, while overcoming the severe X-ray-induced changes to the redox active catalytic center, is key for deriving reaction mechanisms. Such studies become possible by the intense and ultra-short femtosecond (fs) X-ray pulses from an X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) by acquiring a signal before the sample is destroyed. This review describes the recent and pioneering uses of XFELs to study the protein structure and dynamics of metallo-enzymes using crystallography and scattering, as well as the chemical structure and dynamics of the catalytic complexes (charge, spin, and covalency) using spectroscopy during the reaction to understand the electron-transfer processes and elucidate the mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Kern
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Linac Coherent Light Source, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.
| | - Vittal K Yachandra
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
| | - Junko Yano
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
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16
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Motomura K, Kukk E, Fukuzawa H, Wada SI, Nagaya K, Ohmura S, Mondal S, Tachibana T, Ito Y, Koga R, Sakai T, Matsunami K, Rudenko A, Nicolas C, Liu XJ, Miron C, Zhang Y, Jiang Y, Chen J, Anand M, Kim DE, Tono K, Yabashi M, Yao M, Ueda K. Charge and Nuclear Dynamics Induced by Deep Inner-Shell Multiphoton Ionization of CH3I Molecules by Intense X-ray Free-Electron Laser Pulses. J Phys Chem Lett 2015; 6:2944-9. [PMID: 26267186 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.5b01205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
In recent years, free-electron lasers operating in the true X-ray regime have opened up access to the femtosecond-scale dynamics induced by deep inner-shell ionization. We have investigated charge creation and transfer dynamics in the context of molecular Coulomb explosion of a single molecule, exposed to sequential deep inner-shell ionization within an ultrashort (10 fs) X-ray pulse. The target molecule was CH3I, methane sensitized to X-rays by halogenization with a heavy element, iodine. Time-of-flight ion spectroscopy and coincident ion analysis was employed to investigate, via the properties of the atomic fragments, single-molecule charge states of up to +22. Experimental findings have been compared with a parametric model of simultaneous Coulomb explosion and charge transfer in the molecule. The study demonstrates that including realistic charge dynamics is imperative when molecular Coulomb explosion experiments using short-pulse facilities are performed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Koji Motomura
- †Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
| | - Edwin Kukk
- †Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
- ‡Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku, Turku FI-20014, Finland
| | - Hironobu Fukuzawa
- †Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
- §RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
| | - Shin-ichi Wada
- §RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
- ∥Department of Physical Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan
| | - Kiyonobu Nagaya
- §RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
- ⊥Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Satoshi Ohmura
- ⊥Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Subhendu Mondal
- †Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
| | - Tetsuya Tachibana
- †Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
| | - Yuta Ito
- †Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
| | - Ryosuke Koga
- ∥Department of Physical Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan
| | - Tsukasa Sakai
- ⊥Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Kenji Matsunami
- ⊥Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Artem Rudenko
- #J. R. Macdonald Laboratory, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, United States
| | - Christophe Nicolas
- ∇Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'Orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin, BP 48, FR-91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
| | - Xiao-Jing Liu
- ∇Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'Orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin, BP 48, FR-91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
| | - Catalin Miron
- ∇Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'Orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin, BP 48, FR-91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
- ○Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP), "Horia Hulubei" National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering, 30 Reactorului Street, RO-077125 Măgurele, Jud. Ilfov, Romania
| | - Yizhu Zhang
- ◆Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 201210 Shanghai, China
| | - Yuhai Jiang
- ◆Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 201210 Shanghai, China
| | - Jianhui Chen
- ¶Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 201800 Shanghai, China
| | - Mailam Anand
- ∫Department of Physics, CASTECH, MPC-AS, POSTECH, Pohang, Korea
| | - Dong Eon Kim
- ∫Department of Physics, CASTECH, MPC-AS, POSTECH, Pohang, Korea
| | - Kensuke Tono
- ⊗Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI), Sayo, Hyogo 679-5198, Japan
| | | | - Makoto Yao
- ⊥Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Kiyoshi Ueda
- †Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
- §RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
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17
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Schönherr R, Klinge M, Rudolph JM, Fita K, Rehders D, Lübber F, Schneegans S, Majoul IV, Duszenko M, Betzel C, Brandariz-Nuñez A, Martinez-Costas J, Duden R, Redecke L. Real-time investigation of dynamic protein crystallization in living cells. STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS (MELVILLE, N.Y.) 2015; 2:041712. [PMID: 26798811 PMCID: PMC4711630 DOI: 10.1063/1.4921591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2015] [Accepted: 05/05/2015] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
X-ray crystallography requires sufficiently large crystals to obtain structural insights at atomic resolution, routinely obtained in vitro by time-consuming screening. Recently, successful data collection was reported from protein microcrystals grown within living cells using highly brilliant free-electron laser and third-generation synchrotron radiation. Here, we analyzed in vivo crystal growth of firefly luciferase and Green Fluorescent Protein-tagged reovirus μNS by live-cell imaging, showing that dimensions of living cells did not limit crystal size. The crystallization process is highly dynamic and occurs in different cellular compartments. In vivo protein crystallization offers exciting new possibilities for proteins that do not form crystals in vitro.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Schönherr
- Institute of Biology, Center for Structural and Cell Biology in Medicine, University of Lübeck , Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | - M Klinge
- Institute of Biochemistry, Center for Structural and Cell Biology in Medicine, University of Lübeck , Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | | | - K Fita
- Institute of Biochemistry, Center for Structural and Cell Biology in Medicine, University of Lübeck , Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | - D Rehders
- Institute of Biochemistry, Center for Structural and Cell Biology in Medicine, University of Lübeck , Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | | | | | - I V Majoul
- Institute of Biology, Center for Structural and Cell Biology in Medicine, University of Lübeck , Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | - M Duszenko
- Interfaculty Institute of Biochemistry, University of Tübingen , Hoppe-Seyler-Straβe 4, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - C Betzel
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Hamburg , c/o DESY, Notkestr. 85, 22603 Hamburg, Germany
| | - A Brandariz-Nuñez
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Centro de Investigación en Química Biológica y Materiales Moleculares (CIQUS), University Santiago de Compostela , 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - J Martinez-Costas
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Centro de Investigación en Química Biológica y Materiales Moleculares (CIQUS), University Santiago de Compostela , 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - R Duden
- Institute of Biology, Center for Structural and Cell Biology in Medicine, University of Lübeck , Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | - L Redecke
- Institute of Biochemistry, Center for Structural and Cell Biology in Medicine, University of Lübeck , Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
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18
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Panjikar S, Thomsen L, O’Donnell KM, Riboldi-Tunnicliffe A. A step towards long-wavelength protein crystallography: subjecting protein crystals to a vacuum. J Appl Crystallogr 2015; 48:913-916. [PMID: 26089765 PMCID: PMC4453978 DOI: 10.1107/s1600576715006147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2014] [Accepted: 03/26/2015] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Using the UHV experimental endstation on the soft X-ray beamline at the Australian Synchrotron, lysozyme and proteinase K crystals have been exposed to a vacuum of 10-5 mbar, prior to flash-cooling in a bath of liquid nitrogen. Subsequent data collection on the MX2 beamline at the Australian Synchrotron demonstrated that, for lysozyme and proteinase K, it is possible to subject these mounted crystals to a vacuum pressure of 10-5 mbar without destroying the crystal lattice. Despite the lower data quality of the vacuum-pumped crystals compared with control crystals, it is demonstrated that the protein crystals can survive in a vacuum under suitable conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santosh Panjikar
- Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
| | - Lars Thomsen
- Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
| | - Kane Michael O’Donnell
- Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
- Department of Physics, Astronomy and Medical Radiation Physics, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia
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19
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Ginn HM, Brewster AS, Hattne J, Evans G, Wagner A, Grimes JM, Sauter NK, Sutton G, Stuart DI. A revised partiality model and post-refinement algorithm for X-ray free-electron laser data. ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA. SECTION D, BIOLOGICAL CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 2015; 71:1400-10. [PMID: 26057680 PMCID: PMC4461207 DOI: 10.1107/s1399004715006902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2015] [Accepted: 04/06/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Research towards using X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) data to solve structures using experimental phasing methods such as sulfur single-wavelength anomalous dispersion (SAD) has been hampered by shortcomings in the diffraction models for X-ray diffraction from FELs. Owing to errors in the orientation matrix and overly simple partiality models, researchers have required large numbers of images to converge to reliable estimates for the structure-factor amplitudes, which may not be feasible for all biological systems. Here, data for cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus type 17 (CPV17) collected at 1.3 Å wavelength at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) are revisited. A previously published definition of a partiality model for reflections illuminated by self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) pulses is built upon, which defines a fraction between 0 and 1 based on the intersection of a reflection with a spread of Ewald spheres modelled by a super-Gaussian wavelength distribution in the X-ray beam. A method of post-refinement to refine the parameters of this model is suggested. This has generated a merged data set with an overall discrepancy (by calculating the R(split) value) of 3.15% to 1.46 Å resolution from a 7225-image data set. The atomic numbers of C, N and O atoms in the structure are distinguishable in the electron-density map. There are 13 S atoms within the 237 residues of CPV17, excluding the initial disordered methionine. These only possess 0.42 anomalous scattering electrons each at 1.3 Å wavelength, but the 12 that have single predominant positions are easily detectable in the anomalous difference Fourier map. It is hoped that these improvements will lead towards XFEL experimental phase determination and structure determination by sulfur SAD and will generally increase the utility of the method for difficult cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen Mary Ginn
- Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, England
| | - Aaron S. Brewster
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Johan Hattne
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Gwyndaf Evans
- Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Fermi Avenue, Didcot OX11 0QX, England
| | - Armin Wagner
- Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Fermi Avenue, Didcot OX11 0QX, England
| | - Jonathan M. Grimes
- Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, England
- Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Fermi Avenue, Didcot OX11 0QX, England
| | - Nicholas K. Sauter
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Geoff Sutton
- Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, England
| | - David Ian Stuart
- Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, England
- Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Fermi Avenue, Didcot OX11 0QX, England
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20
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Barends T, White TA, Barty A, Foucar L, Messerschmidt M, Alonso-Mori R, Botha S, Chapman H, Doak RB, Galli L, Gati C, Gutmann M, Koglin J, Markvardsen A, Nass K, Oberthur D, Shoeman RL, Schlichting I, Boutet S. Effects of self-seeding and crystal post-selection on the quality of Monte Carlo-integrated SFX data. JOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION 2015; 22:644-52. [PMID: 25931080 DOI: 10.1107/s1600577515005184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2014] [Accepted: 03/13/2015] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) is an emerging method for data collection at free-electron lasers (FELs) in which single diffraction snapshots are taken from a large number of crystals. The partial intensities collected in this way are then combined in a scheme called Monte Carlo integration, which provides the full diffraction intensities. However, apart from having to perform this merging, the Monte Carlo integration must also average out all variations in crystal quality, crystal size, X-ray beam properties and other factors, necessitating data collection from thousands of crystals. Because the pulses provided by FELs running in the typical self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) mode of operation have very irregular, spiky spectra that vary strongly from pulse to pulse, it has been suggested that this is an important source of variation contributing to inaccuracies in the intensities, and that, by using monochromatic pulses produced through a process called self-seeding, fewer images might be needed for Monte Carlo integration to converge, resulting in more accurate data. This paper reports the results of two experiments performed at the Linac Coherent Light Source in which data collected in both SASE and self-seeded mode were compared. Importantly, no improvement attributable to the use of self-seeding was detected. In addition, other possible sources of variation that affect SFX data quality were investigated, such as crystal-to-crystal variations reflected in the unit-cell parameters; however, these factors were found to have no influence on data quality either. Possibly, there is another source of variation as yet undetected that affects SFX data quality much more than any of the factors investigated here.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Barends
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Thomas A White
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Anton Barty
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Lutz Foucar
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Marc Messerschmidt
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Roberto Alonso-Mori
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Sabine Botha
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Henry Chapman
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - R Bruce Doak
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Lorenzo Galli
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Cornelius Gati
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Gutmann
- Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell, Oxford OX11 0QX, England
| | - Jason Koglin
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | | | - Karol Nass
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Dominik Oberthur
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Robert L Shoeman
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ilme Schlichting
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sébastien Boutet
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
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21
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Boutet S, Foucar L, Barends TRM, Botha S, Doak RB, Koglin JE, Messerschmidt M, Nass K, Schlichting I, Seibert MM, Shoeman RL, Williams GJ. Characterization and use of the spent beam for serial operation of LCLS. JOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION 2015; 22:634-43. [PMID: 25931079 PMCID: PMC4416680 DOI: 10.1107/s1600577515004002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2014] [Accepted: 02/26/2015] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
X-ray free-electron laser sources such as the Linac Coherent Light Source offer very exciting possibilities for unique research. However, beam time at such facilities is very limited and in high demand. This has led to significant efforts towards beam multiplexing of various forms. One such effort involves re-using the so-called spent beam that passes through the hole in an area detector after a weak interaction with a primary sample. This beam can be refocused into a secondary interaction region and used for a second, independent experiment operating in series. The beam profile of this refocused beam was characterized for a particular experimental geometry at the Coherent X-ray Imaging instrument at LCLS. A demonstration of this multiplexing capability was performed with two simultaneous serial femtosecond crystallography experiments, both yielding interpretable data of sufficient quality to produce electron density maps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sébastien Boutet
- Linac Coherent Light Source, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Lutz Foucar
- Max-Planck-Institut für medizinische Forschung, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Thomas R. M. Barends
- Max-Planck-Institut für medizinische Forschung, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sabine Botha
- Max-Planck-Institut für medizinische Forschung, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - R. Bruce Doak
- Max-Planck-Institut für medizinische Forschung, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jason E. Koglin
- Linac Coherent Light Source, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Marc Messerschmidt
- Linac Coherent Light Source, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Karol Nass
- Max-Planck-Institut für medizinische Forschung, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ilme Schlichting
- Max-Planck-Institut für medizinische Forschung, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - M. Marvin Seibert
- Linac Coherent Light Source, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Robert L. Shoeman
- Max-Planck-Institut für medizinische Forschung, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Garth J. Williams
- Linac Coherent Light Source, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
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Yabashi M, Tanaka H, Ishikawa T. Overview of the SACLA facility. JOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION 2015; 22:477-84. [PMID: 25931056 PMCID: PMC4416664 DOI: 10.1107/s1600577515004658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2014] [Accepted: 03/06/2015] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
In March 2012, SACLA started user operations of the first compact X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) facility. SACLA has been routinely providing users with stable XFEL light over a wide photon energy range from 4 to 15 keV and an ultrafast pulse duration below 10 fs. The facility supports experimental activities in broad fields by offering high-quality X-ray optics and diagnostics, as well as reliable multiport charge-coupled-device detectors, with flexible experimental configurations. A two-stage X-ray focusing system was developed that enables the highest intensity of 10(20) W cm(-2). Key scientific results published in 2013 and 2014 in diverse fields are reviewed. The main experimental systems developed for these applications are summarized. A perspective on the facility upgrade is presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Makina Yabashi
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Kouto 1-1-1, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
| | - Hitoshi Tanaka
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Kouto 1-1-1, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
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23
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Weckert E. The potential of future light sources to explore the structure and function of matter. IUCRJ 2015; 2:230-45. [PMID: 25866660 PMCID: PMC4392416 DOI: 10.1107/s2052252514024269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2014] [Accepted: 11/03/2014] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Structural studies in general, and crystallography in particular, have benefited and still do benefit dramatically from the use of synchrotron radiation. Low-emittance storage rings of the third generation provide focused beams down to the micrometre range that are sufficiently intense for the investigation of weakly scattering crystals down to the size of several micrometres. Even though the coherent fraction of these sources is below 1%, a number of new imaging techniques have been developed to exploit the partially coherent radiation. However, many techniques in nanoscience are limited by this rather small coherent fraction. On the one hand, this restriction limits the ability to study the structure and dynamics of non-crystalline materials by methods that depend on the coherence properties of the beam, like coherent diffractive imaging and X-ray correlation spectroscopy. On the other hand, the flux in an ultra-small diffraction-limited focus is limited as well for the same reason. Meanwhile, new storage rings with more advanced lattice designs are under construction or under consideration, which will have significantly smaller emittances. These sources are targeted towards the diffraction limit in the X-ray regime and will provide roughly one to two orders of magnitude higher spectral brightness and coherence. They will be especially suited to experiments exploiting the coherence properties of the beams and to ultra-small focal spot sizes in the regime of several nanometres. Although the length of individual X-ray pulses at a storage-ring source is of the order of 100 ps, which is sufficiently short to track structural changes of larger groups, faster processes as they occur during vision or photosynthesis, for example, are not accessible in all details under these conditions. Linear accelerator (linac) driven free-electron laser (FEL) sources with extremely short and intense pulses of very high coherence circumvent some of the limitations of present-day storage-ring sources. It has been demonstrated that their individual pulses are short enough to outrun radiation damage for single-pulse exposures. These ultra-short pulses also enable time-resolved studies 1000 times faster than at standard storage-ring sources. Developments are ongoing at various places for a totally new type of X-ray source combining a linac with a storage ring. These energy-recovery linacs promise to provide pulses almost as short as a FEL, with brilliances and multi-user capabilities comparable with a diffraction-limited storage ring. Altogether, these new X-ray source developments will provide smaller and more intense X-ray beams with a considerably higher coherent fraction, enabling a broad spectrum of new techniques for studying the structure of crystalline and non-crystalline states of matter at atomic length scales. In addition, the short X-ray pulses of FELs will enable the study of fast atomic dynamics and non-equilibrium states of matter.
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24
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Garman EF, Weik M. Radiation damage to macromolecules: kill or cure? JOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION 2015; 22:195-200. [PMID: 25723921 DOI: 10.1107/s160057751500380x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2015] [Accepted: 02/23/2015] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Radiation damage induced by X-ray beams during macromolecular diffraction experiments remains an issue of concern in structural biology. While advances in our understanding of this phenomenon, driven in part by a series of workshops in this area, undoubtedly have been and are still being made, there are still questions to be answered. Eight papers in this volume give a flavour of ongoing investigations, addressing various issues. These range over: a proposed new metric derived from atomic B-factors for identifying potentially damaged amino acid residues, a study of the relative damage susceptibility of protein and DNA in a DNA/protein complex, a report of an indication of specific radiation damage to a protein determined from data collected using an X-ray free-electron laser (FEL), an account of the challenges in FEL raw diffraction data analysis, an exploration of the possibilities of using radiation damage induced phasing to solve structures using FELs, simulations of radiation damage as a function of FEL temporal pulse profiles, results on the influence of radiation damage during scanning X-ray diffraction measurements and, lastly, consideration of strategies for minimizing radiation damage during SAXS experiments. In this short introduction, these contributions are briefly placed in the context of other current work on radiation damage in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elspeth F Garman
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Martin Weik
- Université Grenoble Alpes, IBS, F-38044 Grenoble, France
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25
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Nass K, Foucar L, Barends TRM, Hartmann E, Botha S, Shoeman RL, Doak RB, Alonso-Mori R, Aquila A, Bajt S, Barty A, Bean R, Beyerlein KR, Bublitz M, Drachmann N, Gregersen J, Jönsson HO, Kabsch W, Kassemeyer S, Koglin JE, Krumrey M, Mattle D, Messerschmidt M, Nissen P, Reinhard L, Sitsel O, Sokaras D, Williams GJ, Hau-Riege S, Timneanu N, Caleman C, Chapman HN, Boutet S, Schlichting I. Indications of radiation damage in ferredoxin microcrystals using high-intensity X-FEL beams. JOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION 2015; 22:225-38. [PMID: 25723924 DOI: 10.1107/s1600577515002349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2014] [Accepted: 02/03/2015] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Proteins that contain metal cofactors are expected to be highly radiation sensitive since the degree of X-ray absorption correlates with the presence of high-atomic-number elements and X-ray energy. To explore the effects of local damage in serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX), Clostridium ferredoxin was used as a model system. The protein contains two [4Fe-4S] clusters that serve as sensitive probes for radiation-induced electronic and structural changes. High-dose room-temperature SFX datasets were collected at the Linac Coherent Light Source of ferredoxin microcrystals. Difference electron density maps calculated from high-dose SFX and synchrotron data show peaks at the iron positions of the clusters, indicative of decrease of atomic scattering factors due to ionization. The electron density of the two [4Fe-4S] clusters differs in the FEL data, but not in the synchrotron data. Since the clusters differ in their detailed architecture, this observation is suggestive of an influence of the molecular bonding and geometry on the atomic displacement dynamics following initial photoionization. The experiments are complemented by plasma code calculations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karol Nass
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Lutz Foucar
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Thomas R M Barends
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Elisabeth Hartmann
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sabine Botha
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Robert L Shoeman
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - R Bruce Doak
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Roberto Alonso-Mori
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Andrew Aquila
- European XFEL GmbH, Albert-Einstein-Ring 19, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Saša Bajt
- Photon Science, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Anton Barty
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Richard Bean
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Kenneth R Beyerlein
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Maike Bublitz
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 10, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
| | - Nikolaj Drachmann
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 10, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
| | - Jonas Gregersen
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 10, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
| | - H Olof Jönsson
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, Uppsala 75120, Sweden
| | - Wolfgang Kabsch
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Stephan Kassemeyer
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jason E Koglin
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Michael Krumrey
- Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Abbestrasse 2-12, 10587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Daniel Mattle
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 10, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
| | - Marc Messerschmidt
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Poul Nissen
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 10, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
| | - Linda Reinhard
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 10, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
| | - Oleg Sitsel
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 10, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
| | - Dimosthenis Sokaras
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Garth J Williams
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Stefan Hau-Riege
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
| | - Nicusor Timneanu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, Uppsala 75120, Sweden
| | - Carl Caleman
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Henry N Chapman
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Sébastien Boutet
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Ilme Schlichting
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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26
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Schlichting I. Serial femtosecond crystallography: the first five years. IUCRJ 2015; 2:246-55. [PMID: 25866661 PMCID: PMC4392417 DOI: 10.1107/s205225251402702x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 225] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2014] [Accepted: 12/09/2014] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Protein crystallography using synchrotron radiation sources has had a tremendous impact on biology, having yielded the structures of thousands of proteins and given detailed insight into their mechanisms. However, the technique is limited by the requirement for macroscopic crystals, which can be difficult to obtain, as well as by the often severe radiation damage caused in diffraction experiments, in particular when using tiny crystals. To slow radiation damage, data collection is typically performed at cryogenic temperatures. With the advent of free-electron lasers (FELs) capable of delivering extremely intense femtosecond X-ray pulses, this situation appears to be remedied, allowing the structure determination of undamaged macromolecules using either macroscopic or microscopic crystals. The latter are exposed to the FEL beam in random orientations and their diffraction data are collected at cryogenic or room temperature in a serial fashion, since each crystal is destroyed upon a single exposure. The new approaches required for crystal growth and delivery, and for diffraction data analysis, including de novo phasing, are reviewed. The opportunities and challenges of SFX are described, including applications such as time-resolved measurements and the analysis of radiation damage-prone systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilme Schlichting
- Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstraße 29, Heidelberg 69120, Germany
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27
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Sauter NK. XFEL diffraction: developing processing methods to optimize data quality. JOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION 2015; 22:239-48. [PMID: 25723925 PMCID: PMC4344359 DOI: 10.1107/s1600577514028203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2014] [Accepted: 12/29/2014] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Serial crystallography, using either femtosecond X-ray pulses from free-electron laser sources or short synchrotron-radiation exposures, has the potential to reveal metalloprotein structural details while minimizing damage processes. However, deriving a self-consistent set of Bragg intensities from numerous still-crystal exposures remains a difficult problem, with optimal protocols likely to be quite different from those well established for rotation photography. Here several data processing issues unique to serial crystallography are examined. It is found that the limiting resolution differs for each shot, an effect that is likely to be due to both the sample heterogeneity and pulse-to-pulse variation in experimental conditions. Shots with lower resolution limits produce lower-quality models for predicting Bragg spot positions during the integration step. Also, still shots by their nature record only partial measurements of the Bragg intensity. An approximate model that corrects to the full-spot equivalent (with the simplifying assumption that the X-rays are monochromatic) brings the distribution of intensities closer to that expected from an ideal crystal, and improves the sharpness of anomalous difference Fourier peaks indicating metal positions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas K. Sauter
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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28
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Jönsson HO, Tîmneanu N, Östlin C, Scott HA, Caleman C. Simulations of radiation damage as a function of the temporal pulse profile in femtosecond X-ray protein crystallography. JOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION 2015; 22:256-66. [PMID: 25723927 DOI: 10.1107/s1600577515002878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2014] [Accepted: 02/10/2015] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Serial femtosecond X-ray crystallography of protein nanocrystals using ultrashort and intense pulses from an X-ray free-electron laser has proved to be a successful method for structural determination. However, due to significant variations in diffraction pattern quality from pulse to pulse only a fraction of the collected frames can be used. Experimentally, the X-ray temporal pulse profile is not known and can vary with every shot. This simulation study describes how the pulse shape affects the damage dynamics, which ultimately affects the biological interpretation of electron density. The instantaneously detected signal varies during the pulse exposure due to the pulse properties, as well as the structural and electronic changes in the sample. Here ionization and atomic motion are simulated using a radiation transfer plasma code. Pulses with parameters typical for X-ray free-electron lasers are considered: pulse energies ranging from 10(4) to 10(7) J cm(-2) with photon energies from 2 to 12 keV, up to 100 fs long. Radiation damage in the form of sample heating that will lead to a loss of crystalline periodicity and changes in scattering factor due to electronic reconfigurations of ionized atoms are considered here. The simulations show differences in the dynamics of the radiation damage processes for different temporal pulse profiles and intensities, where ionization or atomic motion could be predominant. The different dynamics influence the recorded diffracted signal in any given resolution and will affect the subsequent structure determination.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Olof Jönsson
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Nicuşor Tîmneanu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Christofer Östlin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Howard A Scott
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
| | - Carl Caleman
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
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29
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Weierstall U. Liquid sample delivery techniques for serial femtosecond crystallography. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2015; 369:20130337. [PMID: 24914163 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
X-ray free-electron lasers overcome the problem of radiation damage in protein crystallography and allow structure determination from micro- and nanocrystals at room temperature. To ensure that consecutive X-ray pulses do not probe previously exposed crystals, the sample needs to be replaced with the X-ray repetition rate, which ranges from 120 Hz at warm linac-based free-electron lasers to 1 MHz at superconducting linacs. Liquid injectors are therefore an essential part of a serial femtosecond crystallography experiment at an X-ray free-electron laser. Here, we compare different techniques of injecting microcrystals in solution into the pulsed X-ray beam in vacuum. Sample waste due to mismatch of the liquid flow rate to the X-ray repetition rate can be addressed through various techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Uwe Weierstall
- Department of Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
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30
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Kern J, Hattne J, Tran R, Alonso-Mori R, Laksmono H, Gul S, Sierra RG, Rehanek J, Erko A, Mitzner R, Wernet P, Bergmann U, Sauter NK, Yachandra V, Yano J. Methods development for diffraction and spectroscopy studies of metalloenzymes at X-ray free-electron lasers. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2015; 369:20130590. [PMID: 24914169 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) open up new possibilities for X-ray crystallographic and spectroscopic studies of radiation-sensitive biological samples under close to physiological conditions. To facilitate these new X-ray sources, tailored experimental methods and data-processing protocols have to be developed. The highly radiation-sensitive photosystem II (PSII) protein complex is a prime target for XFEL experiments aiming to study the mechanism of light-induced water oxidation taking place at a Mn cluster in this complex. We developed a set of tools for the study of PSII at XFELs, including a new liquid jet based on electrofocusing, an energy dispersive von Hamos X-ray emission spectrometer for the hard X-ray range and a high-throughput soft X-ray spectrometer based on a reflection zone plate. While our immediate focus is on PSII, the methods we describe here are applicable to a wide range of metalloenzymes. These experimental developments were complemented by a new software suite, cctbx.xfel. This software suite allows for near-real-time monitoring of the experimental parameters and detector signals and the detailed analysis of the diffraction and spectroscopy data collected by us at the Linac Coherent Light Source, taking into account the specific characteristics of data measured at an XFEL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Kern
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA LCLS, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Johan Hattne
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Rosalie Tran
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | | | - Hartawan Laksmono
- Stanford PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Sheraz Gul
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Raymond G Sierra
- Stanford PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Jens Rehanek
- Institute for Nanometre Optics and Technology, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Berlin 12489, Germany
| | - Alexei Erko
- Institute for Nanometre Optics and Technology, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Berlin 12489, Germany
| | - Rolf Mitzner
- Institute for Methods and Instrumentation for Synchrotron Radiation Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Berlin 12489, Germany
| | - Phillip Wernet
- Institute for Methods and Instrumentation for Synchrotron Radiation Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Berlin 12489, Germany
| | - Uwe Bergmann
- LCLS, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Nicholas K Sauter
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Vittal Yachandra
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Junko Yano
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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31
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Lunin VY, Grum-Grzhimailo AN, Gryzlova EV, Sinitsyn DO, Petrova TE, Lunina NL, Balabaev NK, Tereshkina KB, Stepanov AS, Krupyanskii YF. Efficient calculation of diffracted intensities in the case of nonstationary scattering by biological macromolecules under XFEL pulses. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015; 71:293-303. [PMID: 25664739 DOI: 10.1107/s1399004714025450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2014] [Accepted: 11/20/2014] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
The calculation of diffracted intensities from an atomic model is a routine step in the course of structure solution, and its efficiency may be crucial for the feasibility of the study. An intense X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) pulse can change the electron configurations of atoms during its action. This results in time-dependence of the diffracted intensities and complicates their calculation. An algorithm is suggested that enables this calculation with a computational cost comparable to that for the time-independent case. The intensity is calculated as a sum of the `effective' intensity and a finite series of `correcting' intensities. These intensities are calculated in the conventional way but with modified atomic scattering factors that are specially derived for a particular XFEL experiment. The total number of members of the series does not exceed the number of chemically different elements present in the object under study. This number is small for biological molecules; in addition, the correcting terms are negligible within the parameter range and accuracy acceptable in biological crystallography. The time-dependent atomic scattering factors were estimated for different pulse fluence levels by solving the system of rate equations. The simulation showed that the changes in a diffraction pattern caused by the time-dependence of scattering factors are negligible if the pulse fluence does not exceed the limit that is currently achieved in experiments with biological macromolecular crystals (10(4) photons Å(-2) per pulse) but become significant with an increase in the fluence to 10(6) or 10(8) photons Å(-2) per pulse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir Y Lunin
- Institute of Mathematical Problems of Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino 142290, Moscow Region, Russian Federation
| | - Alexei N Grum-Grzhimailo
- Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russian Federation
| | - Elena V Gryzlova
- Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russian Federation
| | - Dmitry O Sinitsyn
- Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 4 Kosygina Street, Moscow 119991, Russian Federation
| | - Tatiana E Petrova
- Institute of Mathematical Problems of Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino 142290, Moscow Region, Russian Federation
| | - Natalia L Lunina
- Institute of Mathematical Problems of Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino 142290, Moscow Region, Russian Federation
| | - Nikolai K Balabaev
- Institute of Mathematical Problems of Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino 142290, Moscow Region, Russian Federation
| | - Ksenia B Tereshkina
- Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 4 Kosygina Street, Moscow 119991, Russian Federation
| | - Alexei S Stepanov
- Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 4 Kosygina Street, Moscow 119991, Russian Federation
| | - Yurii F Krupyanskii
- Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 4 Kosygina Street, Moscow 119991, Russian Federation
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32
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Protein crystal structure obtained at 2.9 Å resolution from injecting bacterial cells into an X-ray free-electron laser beam. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111:12769-74. [PMID: 25136092 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1413456111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
It has long been known that toxins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are stored in the bacterial cells in crystalline form. Here we describe the structure determination of the Cry3A toxin found naturally crystallized within Bt cells. When whole Bt cells were streamed into an X-ray free-electron laser beam we found that scattering from other cell components did not obscure diffraction from the crystals. The resolution limits of the best diffraction images collected from cells were the same as from isolated crystals. The integrity of the cells at the moment of diffraction is unclear; however, given the short time (∼ 5 µs) between exiting the injector to intersecting with the X-ray beam, our result is a 2.9-Å-resolution structure of a crystalline protein as it exists in a living cell. The study suggests that authentic in vivo diffraction studies can produce atomic-level structural information.
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33
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van Thor JJ, Warren MM, Lincoln CN, Chollet M, Lemke HT, Fritz DM, Schmidt M, Tenboer J, Ren Z, Srajer V, Moffat K, Graber T. Signal to noise considerations for single crystal femtosecond time resolved crystallography of the Photoactive Yellow Protein. Faraday Discuss 2014; 171:439-55. [PMID: 25415305 DOI: 10.1039/c4fd00011k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Femtosecond time resolved pump-probe protein X-ray crystallography requires highly accurate measurements of the photoinduced structure factor amplitude differences. In the case of femtosecond photolysis of single P63 crystals of the Photoactive Yellow Protein, it is shown that photochemical dynamics place a considerable restraint on the achievable time resolution due to the requirement to stretch and add second order dispersion in order to generate threshold concentration levels in the interaction region. Here, we report on using a 'quasi-cw' approach to use the rotation method with monochromatic radiation and 2 eV bandwidth at 9.465 keV at the Linac Coherent Light Source operated in SASE mode. A source of significant Bragg reflection intensity noise is identified from the combination of mode structure and jitter with very small mosaic spread of the crystals and very low convergence of the XFEL source. The accuracy with which the three dimensional reflection is approximated by the 'quasi-cw' rotation method with the pulsed source is modelled from the experimentally collected X-ray pulse intensities together with the measured rocking curves. This model is extended to predict merging statistics for recently demonstrated self seeded mode generated pulse train with improved stability, in addition to extrapolating to single crystal experiments with increased mosaic spread. The results show that the noise level can be adequately modelled in this manner, indicating that the large intensity fluctuations dominate the merged signal-to-noise (I/σI) value. Furthermore, these results predict that using the self seeded mode together with more mosaic crystals, sufficient accuracy may be obtained in order to resolve typical photoinduced structure factor amplitude differences, as taken from representative synchrotron results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasper J van Thor
- Imperial College London, Division of Molecular Biosciences, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
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34
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Kern J, Tran R, Alonso-Mori R, Koroidov S, Echols N, Hattne J, Ibrahim M, Gul S, Laksmono H, Sierra RG, Gildea RJ, Han G, Hellmich J, Lassalle-Kaiser B, Chatterjee R, Brewster AS, Stan CA, Glöckner C, Lampe A, DiFiore D, Milathianaki D, Fry AR, Seibert MM, Koglin JE, Gallo E, Uhlig J, Sokaras D, Weng TC, Zwart PH, Skinner DE, Bogan MJ, Messerschmidt M, Glatzel P, Williams GJ, Boutet S, Adams PD, Zouni A, Messinger J, Sauter NK, Bergmann U, Yano J, Yachandra VK. Taking snapshots of photosynthetic water oxidation using femtosecond X-ray diffraction and spectroscopy. Nat Commun 2014; 5:4371. [PMID: 25006873 PMCID: PMC4151126 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 161] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2014] [Accepted: 06/10/2014] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The dioxygen we breathe is formed by light-induced oxidation of water in photosystem II. O2 formation takes place at a catalytic manganese cluster within milliseconds after the photosystem II reaction centre is excited by three single-turnover flashes. Here we present combined X-ray emission spectra and diffraction data of 2-flash (2F) and 3-flash (3F) photosystem II samples, and of a transient 3F' state (250 μs after the third flash), collected under functional conditions using an X-ray free electron laser. The spectra show that the initial O-O bond formation, coupled to Mn reduction, does not yet occur within 250 μs after the third flash. Diffraction data of all states studied exhibit an anomalous scattering signal from Mn but show no significant structural changes at the present resolution of 4.5 Å. This study represents the initial frames in a molecular movie of the structural changes during the catalytic reaction in photosystem II.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Kern
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,LCLS, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Rosalie Tran
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | | | - Sergey Koroidov
- Institutionen för Kemi, Kemiskt Biologiskt Centrum, Umeå Universitet, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Nathaniel Echols
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Johan Hattne
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Mohamed Ibrahim
- Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, D-10099 Berlin, Germany,Max-Volmer-Laboratorium für Biophysikalische Chemie, Technische Universität, D-10623 Berlin, Germany
| | - Sheraz Gul
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Hartawan Laksmono
- PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Raymond G. Sierra
- PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Richard J. Gildea
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Guangye Han
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Julia Hellmich
- Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, D-10099 Berlin, Germany,Max-Volmer-Laboratorium für Biophysikalische Chemie, Technische Universität, D-10623 Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Ruchira Chatterjee
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Aaron S. Brewster
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Claudiu A. Stan
- PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Carina Glöckner
- Max-Volmer-Laboratorium für Biophysikalische Chemie, Technische Universität, D-10623 Berlin, Germany
| | - Alyssa Lampe
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Dörte DiFiore
- Max-Volmer-Laboratorium für Biophysikalische Chemie, Technische Universität, D-10623 Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Alan R. Fry
- LCLS, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - M. Marvin Seibert
- LCLS, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Jason E. Koglin
- LCLS, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Erik Gallo
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, F-38043 Grenoble Cedex, France
| | - Jens Uhlig
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, F-38043 Grenoble Cedex, France
| | | | - Tsu-Chien Weng
- SSRL, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Petrus H. Zwart
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - David E. Skinner
- National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Michael J. Bogan
- LCLS, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA,PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | | | - Pieter Glatzel
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, F-38043 Grenoble Cedex, France
| | - Garth J. Williams
- LCLS, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Sébastien Boutet
- LCLS, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Paul D. Adams
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Athina Zouni
- Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, D-10099 Berlin, Germany,Max-Volmer-Laboratorium für Biophysikalische Chemie, Technische Universität, D-10623 Berlin, Germany
| | - Johannes Messinger
- Institutionen för Kemi, Kemiskt Biologiskt Centrum, Umeå Universitet, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Nicholas K. Sauter
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Uwe Bergmann
- LCLS, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA,Corresponding authors. (U.B.), , (J.Y.), (V.K.Y)
| | - Junko Yano
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,Corresponding authors. (U.B.), , (J.Y.), (V.K.Y)
| | - Vittal K. Yachandra
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,Corresponding authors. (U.B.), , (J.Y.), (V.K.Y)
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35
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Feld GK, Frank M. Enabling membrane protein structure and dynamics with X-ray free electron lasers. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2014; 27:69-78. [PMID: 24930119 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2014.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2014] [Revised: 05/09/2014] [Accepted: 05/12/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Determining the three-dimensional structures and dynamics of membrane proteins remains one of the great challenges of modern biology. The recent availability of X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) light sources has opened the door to a new and revolutionary approach to performing X-ray analysis of these important biomolecules. Recent advances in sample delivery, data reduction, and phasing have enabled the high-resolution structural probing of membrane proteins at room temperature. While considerable challenges remain, the recent developments described in this review may ultimately provide structural biologists with powerful tools for obtaining unprecedented atomic-scale and dynamic visualization of membrane proteins at near-physiological conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geoffrey K Feld
- Biosciences and Biotechnology Division, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA
| | - Matthias Frank
- Physics Division, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA.
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36
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Trebbin M, Krüger K, DePonte D, Roth SV, Chapman HN, Förster S. Microfluidic liquid jet system with compatibility for atmospheric and high-vacuum conditions. LAB ON A CHIP 2014; 14:1733-45. [PMID: 24671443 DOI: 10.1039/c3lc51363g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
We present microfluidic chip based devices that produce liquid jets with micrometer diameters while operating at very low flow rates. The chip production is based on established soft-lithographical techniques employing a three-layer design protocol. This allows the exact, controlled and reproducible design of critical parts such as nozzles and the production of nozzle arrays. The microfluidic chips reproducibly generate liquid jets exiting at perfect right angles with diameters between 20 μm and 2 μm, and under special circumstances, even down to 0.9 μm. Jet diameter, jet length, and the domain of the jetting/dripping instability can be predicted and controlled based on the theory for liquid jets in the plate-orifice configuration described by Gañán-Calvo et al. Additionally, conditions under which the device produces highly reproducible monodisperse droplets at exact and predictable rates can be achieved. The devices operate under atmospheric and under vacuum conditions making them highly relevant for a wide range of applications, for example, for free-electron lasers. Further, the straightforward integration of additional features such as a jet-in-jet is demonstrated. This device design has the potential to integrate more features based on established microfluidic components and may become a standard device for small liquid jet production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Trebbin
- Physical Chemistry 1, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstraße 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
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37
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Abstract
X-ray diffraction patterns from crystals of biological macromolecules contain sufficient information to define atomic structures, but atomic positions are inextricable without having electron-density images. Diffraction measurements provide amplitudes, but the computation of electron density also requires phases for the diffracted waves. The resonance phenomenon known as anomalous scattering offers a powerful solution to this phase problem. Exploiting scattering resonances from diverse elements, the methods of MAD (multiwavelength anomalous diffraction) and SAD (single-wavelength anomalous diffraction) now predominate for de novo determinations of atomic-level biological structures. This review describes the physical underpinnings of anomalous diffraction methods, the evolution of these methods to their current maturity, the elements, procedures and instrumentation used for effective implementation, and the realm of applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wayne A. Hendrickson
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, and Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA. New York Structural Biology Center, 89 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10027 USA
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38
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De novo protein crystal structure determination from X-ray free-electron laser data. Nature 2013; 505:244-7. [PMID: 24270807 DOI: 10.1038/nature12773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 229] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2013] [Accepted: 10/14/2013] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The determination of protein crystal structures is hampered by the need for macroscopic crystals. X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) provide extremely intense pulses of femtosecond duration, which allow data collection from nanometre- to micrometre-sized crystals in a 'diffraction-before-destruction' approach. So far, all protein structure determinations carried out using FELs have been based on previous knowledge of related, known structures. Here we show that X-ray FEL data can be used for de novo protein structure determination, that is, without previous knowledge about the structure. Using the emerging technique of serial femtosecond crystallography, we performed single-wavelength anomalous scattering measurements on microcrystals of the well-established model system lysozyme, in complex with a lanthanide compound. Using Monte-Carlo integration, we obtained high-quality diffraction intensities from which experimental phases could be determined, resulting in an experimental electron density map good enough for automated building of the protein structure. This demonstrates the feasibility of determining novel protein structures using FELs. We anticipate that serial femtosecond crystallography will become an important tool for the structure determination of proteins that are difficult to crystallize, such as membrane proteins.
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Wlodawer A, Minor W, Dauter Z, Jaskolski M. Protein crystallography for aspiring crystallographers or how to avoid pitfalls and traps in macromolecular structure determination. FEBS J 2013; 280:5705-36. [PMID: 24034303 DOI: 10.1111/febs.12495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2013] [Revised: 08/12/2013] [Accepted: 08/20/2013] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
The number of macromolecular structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank now approaches 100,000, with the vast majority of them determined by crystallographic methods. Thousands of papers describing such structures have been published in the scientific literature, and 20 Nobel Prizes in chemistry or medicine have been awarded for discoveries based on macromolecular crystallography. New hardware and software tools have made crystallography appear to be an almost routine (but still far from being analytical) technique and many structures are now being determined by scientists with very limited experience in the practical aspects of the field. However, this apparent ease is sometimes illusory and proper procedures need to be followed to maintain high standards of structure quality. In addition, many noncrystallographers may have problems with the critical evaluation and interpretation of structural results published in the scientific literature. The present review provides an outline of the technical aspects of crystallography for less experienced practitioners, as well as information that might be useful for users of macromolecular structures, aiming to show them how to interpret (but not overinterpret) the information present in the coordinate files and in their description. A discussion of the extent of information that can be gleaned from the atomic coordinates of structures solved at different resolution is provided, as well as problems and pitfalls encountered in structure determination and interpretation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Wlodawer
- Protein Structure Section, Macromolecular Crystallography Laboratory, NCI at Frederick, Frederick, MD, USA
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