Dear colleagues
As you may know, I work with Robert Thorne on developing
cryocrystallography methods. We are currently looking for
collaborations with crystallographers who would be able to supply us
with certain kinds of protein crystal systems. These include:
-crystals that freeze poorly. (i.e. crystals that show much better
diffraction at room temperature than when frozen)
-more generally, crystals that show any dramatic change (space group,
molecular structure, etc) on cooling
-crystals that are particularly radiation sensitive at room
temperature (perhaps 10 or 100 times more susceptible to damage than
'usual')
-large complexes/viruses that we believe may benefit from ultra-slow cooling
The general theme is that these cases will be interesting to study as
a function of temperature and cooling rate. For example, if there is
a large motion of some part of protein structure on cooling, rapid
cooling may trap the room temperature ensemble, whereas very slow
cooling might give a better-ordered 'annealed' structure.
Thank you for your consideration, and please don't hesitate to email
me directly with questions.
Matt Warkentin
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