scholarly journals Analysis of Multi-Hit Crystals in Serial Synchrotron Crystallography Experiments Using High-Viscosity Injectors

Crystals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Marjan Hadian-Jazi ◽  
Peter Berntsen ◽  
Hugh Marman ◽  
Brian Abbey ◽  
Connie Darmanin
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Damage ◽  
Absorbed Dose ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Interaction Region ◽  
Frame Rate ◽  
Silicone Grease ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Sample Flow Rate ◽  
Free Data

Serial Synchrotron Crystallography (SSX) is rapidly emerging as a promising technique for collecting data for time-resolved structural studies or for performing room temperature micro-crystallography measurements using micro-focused beamlines. SSX is often performed using high frame rate detectors in combination with continuous sample scanning or high-viscosity or liquid jet injectors. When performed using ultra-bright X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) sources serial crystallography typically involves a process known as ’diffract-and-destroy’ where each crystal is measured just once before it is destroyed by the intense XFEL pulse. In SSX, however, particularly when using high-viscosity injectors (HVIs) such as Lipidico, the crystal can be intercepted multiple times by the X-ray beam prior to exiting the interaction region. This has a number of important consequences for SSX including whether these multiple-hits can be incorporated into the data analysis or whether they need to be excluded due to the potential impact of radiation damage. Here, we investigate the occurrence and characteristics of multiple hits on single crystals using SSX with lipidico. SSX data are collected from crystals as they tumble within a high viscous stream of silicone grease flowing through a micro-focused X-ray beam. We confirmed that, using the Eiger 16M, we are able to collect up to 42 frames of data from the same single crystal prior to it leaving the X-ray interaction region. The frequency and occurrence of multiple hits may be controlled by varying the sample flow rate and X-ray beam size. Calculations of the absorbed dose confirm that these crystals are likely to undergo radiation damage but that nonetheless incorporating multiple hits into damage-free data should lead to a significant reduction in the number of crystals required for structural analysis when compared to just looking at a single diffraction pattern from each crystal.

RADDOSE-XFEL: femtosecond time-resolved dose estimates for macromolecular X-ray free-electron laser experiments

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 549-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua L. Dickerson ◽  
Patrick T. N. McCubbin ◽  
Elspeth F. Garman
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Radiation Damage ◽  
Free Electron ◽  
Absorbed Dose ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Laser Experiments ◽  
Beam Parameters ◽  
Diffraction Patterns

For macromolecular structure determination at synchrotron sources, radiation damage remains a major limiting factor. Estimation of the absorbed dose (J kg−1) during data collection at these sources by programs such as RADDOSE-3D has allowed direct comparison of radiation damage between experiments carried out with different samples and beam parameters. This has enabled prediction of roughly when radiation damage will manifest so it can potentially be avoided. X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs), which produce intense X-ray pulses only a few femtoseconds in duration, can be used to generate diffraction patterns before most of the radiation damage processes have occurred and hence hypothetically they enable the determination of damage-free atomic resolution structures. In spite of this, several experimental and theoretical studies have suggested that structures from XFELs are not always free of radiation damage. There are currently no freely available programs designed to calculate the dose absorbed during XFEL data collection. This article presents an extension to RADDOSE-3D called RADDOSE-XFEL, which calculates the time-resolved dose during XFEL experiments. It is anticipated that RADDOSE-XFEL could be used to facilitate the study of radiation damage at XFELs and ultimately be used prior to data collection so that experimenters can plan their experiments to avoid radiation damage manifesting in their structures.

scholarly journals Approach of Serial Crystallography

Crystals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 854
Author(s):  
Ki Hyun Nam
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Damage ◽  
Room Temperature ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Experimental Limitation ◽  
Serial Crystallography ◽  
Collection Strategies

Radiation damage and cryogenic sample environment are an experimental limitation observed in the traditional X-ray crystallography technique. However, the serial crystallography (SX) technique not only helps to determine structures at room temperature with minimal radiation damage, but it is also a useful tool for profound understanding of macromolecules. Moreover, it is a new tool for time-resolved studies. Over the past 10 years, various sample delivery techniques and data collection strategies have been developed in the SX field. It also has a wide range of applications in instruments ranging from the X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) facility to synchrotrons. The importance of the various approaches in terms of the experimental techniques and a brief review of the research carried out in the field of SX has been highlighted in this editorial.

RADDOSE-3D: time- and space-resolved modelling of dose in macromolecular crystallography

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 1225-1230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver B. Zeldin ◽  
Markus Gerstel ◽  
Elspeth F. Garman
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Radiation Damage ◽  
Diffraction Experiment ◽  
Macromolecular Crystallography ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Online Methods ◽  
Crystal Volume ◽  
Number Of Iterations

RADDOSE-3D allows the macroscopic modelling of an X-ray diffraction experiment for the purpose of better predicting radiation-damage progression. The distribution of dose within the crystal volume is calculated for a number of iterations in small angular steps across one or more data collection wedges, providing a time-resolved picture of the dose state of the crystal. The code is highly modular so that future contributions from the community can be easily integrated into it, in particular to incorporate online methods for determining the shape of macromolecular crystals and better protocols for imaging real experimental X-ray beam profiles.

scholarly journals Quantitative study of contrast enhancement in soft X-ray micrographs of insect eyes by tissue selective mass loss

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1153-1159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Späth ◽  
Benjamin Watts ◽  
Lutz Thilo Wasserthal ◽  
Rainer H. Fink
Keyword(s):  
Mass Loss ◽  
Contrast Enhancement ◽  
Radiation Damage ◽  
Soft Matter ◽  
Absorbed Dose ◽  
Radiochemical Analysis ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Quantitative Studies ◽  
Radiation Induced ◽  
Energy Dependent

Quantitative studies of soft X-ray induced radiation damage in zone-plate-based X-ray microspectroscopy have so far concentrated on investigations of homogeneous specimens. However, more complex materials can show unexpected radiation-induced behaviour. Here a quantitative radiochemical analysis of biological tissue fromXantophan morganii praedictaeyes is presented. Contrast enhancement due to tissue selective mass loss leading to a significant improvement of imaging quality is reported. Since conventional quantitative analysis of the absorbed dose cannot conclusively explain the experimental observations on photon-energy-dependent radiation damage, a significant contribution of photo- and secondary electrons to soft matter damage for photon energies above the investigated absorption edge is proposed.

scholarly journals Viscous hydrophilic injection matrices for serial crystallography

IUCrJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 400-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Kovácsová ◽  
Marie Luise Grünbein ◽  
Marco Kloos ◽  
Thomas R. M. Barends ◽  
Ramona Schlesinger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Crystallization ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Stream Velocity ◽  
Cubic Phase ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Block Polymer ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Crystallization Conditions ◽  
Serial Crystallography

Serial (femtosecond) crystallography at synchrotron and X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) sources distributes the absorbed radiation dose over all crystals used for data collection and therefore allows measurement of radiation damage prone systems, including the use of microcrystals for room-temperature measurements. Serial crystallography relies on fast and efficient exchange of crystals upon X-ray exposure, which can be achieved using a variety of methods, including various injection techniques. The latter vary significantly in their flow rates – gas dynamic virtual nozzle based injectors provide very thin fast-flowing jets, whereas high-viscosity extrusion injectors produce much thicker streams with flow rates two to three orders of magnitude lower. High-viscosity extrusion results in much lower sample consumption, as its sample delivery speed is commensurate both with typical XFEL repetition rates and with data acquisition rates at synchrotron sources. An obvious viscous injection medium is lipidic cubic phase (LCP) as it is used forin mesomembrane protein crystallization. However, LCP has limited compatibility with many crystallization conditions. While a few other viscous media have been described in the literature, there is an ongoing need to identify additional injection media for crystal embedding. Critical attributes are reliable injection properties and a broad chemical compatibility to accommodate samples as heterogeneous and sensitive as protein crystals. Here, the use of two novel hydrogels as viscous injection matrices is described, namely sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and the thermo-reversible block polymer Pluronic F-127. Both are compatible with various crystallization conditions and yield acceptable X-ray background. The stability and velocity of the extruded stream were also analysed and the dependence of the stream velocity on the flow rate was measured. In contrast with previously characterized injection media, both new matrices afford very stable adjustable streams suitable for time-resolved measurements.

scholarly journals High-viscosity injector-based pink-beam serial crystallography of microcrystals at a synchrotron radiation source

IUCrJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 412-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose M. Martin-Garcia ◽  
Lan Zhu ◽  
Derek Mendez ◽  
Ming-Yue Lee ◽  
Eugene Chun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Synchrotron Radiation ◽  
Radiation Source ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Synchrotron Radiation Source ◽  
Proteinase K ◽  
Moderate Increase ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Serial Crystallography

Since the first successful serial crystallography (SX) experiment at a synchrotron radiation source, the popularity of this approach has continued to grow showing that third-generation synchrotrons can be viable alternatives to scarce X-ray free-electron laser sources. Synchrotron radiation flux may be increased ∼100 times by a moderate increase in the bandwidth (`pink beam' conditions) at some cost to data analysis complexity. Here, we report the first high-viscosity injector-based pink-beam SX experiments. The structures of proteinase K (PK) and A2A adenosine receptor (A2AAR) were determined to resolutions of 1.8 and 4.2 Å using 4 and 24 consecutive 100 ps X-ray pulse exposures, respectively. Strong PK data were processed using existing Laue approaches, while weaker A2AAR data required an alternative data-processing strategy. This demonstration of the feasibility presents new opportunities for time-resolved experiments with microcrystals to study structural changes in real time at pink-beam synchrotron beamlines worldwide.

scholarly journals Improving High Viscosity Extrusion of Microcrystals for Time-resolved Serial Femtosecond Crystallography at X-ray Lasers

10.3791/59087 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel James ◽  
Tobias Weinert ◽  
Petr Skopintsev ◽  
Antonia Furrer ◽  
Dardan Gashi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Viscosity ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Serial Femtosecond Crystallography

scholarly journals Ultrafast x-ray-driven phenomena in nanocrystals: development and application of powerful simulation tools

2019 ◽  
Vol 205 ◽  
pp. 05022
Author(s):  
Malik Muhammad Abdullah ◽  
Zoltan Jurek ◽  
Sang-Kil Son ◽  
Robin Santra
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Damage ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Biologically Relevant ◽  
Simulation Tools ◽  
Damage Dynamics ◽  
Biologically Relevant Molecules ◽  
Dynamics Simulations

We investigate the radiation damage dynamics of nanocrystals at high x-ray intensity, by using time-resolved scattering patterns. We present dynamics simulations for biologically relevant molecules using XMDYN extended to nanocrystals and scattering simulation with XSINC.

scholarly journals A Perspective on Molecular Structure and Bond-Breaking in Radiation Damage in Serial Femtosecond Crystallography

Crystals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Caleman ◽  
Francisco Jares Junior ◽  
Oscar Grånäs ◽  
Andrew V. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Damage ◽  
Protein Dynamics ◽  
Conformational Changes ◽  
Bond Breaking ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Metal Centers ◽  
Disulfide Bonding ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Sample Structure ◽  
Effects Of Radiation

X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) have a unique capability for time-resolved studies of protein dynamics and conformational changes on femto- and pico-second time scales. The extreme intensity of X-ray pulses can potentially cause significant modifications to the sample structure during exposure. Successful time-resolved XFEL crystallography depends on the unambiguous interpretation of the protein dynamics of interest from the effects of radiation damage. Proteins containing relatively heavy elements, such as sulfur or metals, have a higher risk for radiation damage. In metaloenzymes, for example, the dynamics of interest usually occur at the metal centers, which are also hotspots for damage due to the higher atomic number of the elements they contain. An ongoing challenge with such local damage is to understand the residual bonding in these locally ionized systems and bond-breaking dynamics. Here, we present a perspective on radiation damage in XFEL experiments with a particular focus on the impacts for time-resolved protein crystallography. We discuss recent experimental and modelling results of bond-breaking and ion motion at disulfide bonding sites in protein crystals.

Simple and efficient system for photoconverting light-sensitive proteins in serial crystallography experiments

2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 932-939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio Schirò ◽  
Joyce Woodhouse ◽  
Martin Weik ◽  
Ilme Schlichting ◽  
Robert L. Shoeman
Keyword(s):  
Structural Changes ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Photophysical Properties ◽  
Super Resolution ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Optical Pump ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Efficient System ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Photosensitive Proteins

Proteins that change their structure in response to light absorption regulate many functional processes in living cells. Moreover, biotechnological approaches like optogenetics and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy recently triggered the generation of new genetically modified photosensitive proteins. Light-induced structural changes in photosensitive proteins can be studied by time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX), an X-ray diffraction technique that allows the determination of macromolecular structures at X-ray free-electron lasers from a large number of nano- to micro-sized crystals. This article describes a simple and efficient system for converting photosensitive proteins into light-induced semi-stationary states by inline laser illumination prior to sample injection with a gas-focused liquid jet and subsequent optical pump–X-ray probe exposure. The simple setup of this device makes it suitable for integration into other liquid injectors (like electro-spinning and electro-kinetic injectors) and potentially also in high-viscosity extruders, provided that embedding microcrystals in viscous media does not alter protein photophysical properties. The functioning of the device is demonstrated with an example of a photoswitchable fluorescent protein pre-illuminated (photoactivated) for time-resolved SFX experiments. The device can be easily adapted for the conversion in time-resolved SFX experiments of other microcrystalline proteins, such as photosystems, phytochromes and rhodopsins.

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