Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Michael W. Martynowycz, Max T. B. Clabbers, Johan Hattne, Tamir Gonen
Summary: This article reports on the sub- and near-atomic structures of triclinic lysozyme and serine protease proteinase K, respectively, and demonstrates the successful application of ab initio phasing using electron counted MicroED data to solve macromolecular structures.
Article
Crystallography
Zhipu Luo, Weijie Gu, Yichao Wang, Yannan Tang, Dianfan Li
Summary: Selenourea was tested as a soaking reagent for single-wavelength anomalous dispersion (SAD) phasing of crystals grown in lipid cubic phase (LCP). It was found that selenourea binds with low specificity to accessible extramembrane protein, allowing successful structure determination of membrane proteins. This study demonstrates that selenourea is a promising and generally useful reagent for heavy-atom soaking of membrane protein crystals grown in LCP.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kamel El Omari, Ramona Duman, Vitaliy Mykhaylyk, Christian M. Orr, Merlyn Latimer-Smith, Graeme Winter, Vinay Grama, Feng Qu, Kiran Bountra, Hok Sau Kwong, Maria Romano, Rosana I. Reis, Lutz Vogeley, Luca Vecchia, C. David Owen, Sina Wittmann, Max Renner, Miki Senda, Naohiro Matsugaki, Yoshiaki Kawano, Thomas A. Bowden, Isabel Moraes, Jonathan M. Grimes, Erika J. Mancini, Martin A. Walsh, Cristiane R. Guzzo, Raymond J. Owens, E. Yvonne Jones, David G. Brown, Dave I. Stuart, Konstantinos Beis, Armin Wagner
Summary: Despite recent advances in cryo-electron microscopy and artificial intelligence-based model predictions, experimental phasing continues to be essential. The authors utilize the long-wavelength I23 beamline at Diamond Light Source to solve macromolecular structures using single-wavelength anomalous diffraction techniques, showcasing their proficiency in phasing with lighter atoms.
COMMUNICATIONS CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Markus Metz, Romain D. Arnal, Wolfgang Brehm, Henry N. Chapman, Andrew J. Morgan, Rick P. Millane
Summary: The proposed phasing algorithm for macromolecular crystallography utilizes diffraction data from multiple crystal forms to iteratively determine phase information without initial data. Demonstrated through simulation with known structures in multiple crystal forms, the method shows practicality with the potential for ab initio phasing when combined with other methods.
ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA A-FOUNDATION AND ADVANCES
(2021)
Review
Crystallography
Katarzyna Kurpiewska, Joanna Slawek, Agnieszka Klonecka, Maciej Kozak
Summary: Since its introduction in the early 1970s, high pressure crystallography (HPX) has shown great potential for the investigation of different types of matter. This emerging technique has been rapidly implemented, making it available to biologists, and there is immense potential for utilizing this technique in biological systems in the future. The increase in the number of crystal structures of different macromolecules determined under high pressure over the last five decades can be ascribed mainly to the emergence of high-pressure cells with very large, open angles, and the advent of third generation synchrotron sources.
Review
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gisela Branden, Richard Neutze
Summary: Conformational changes within biological macromolecules regulate chemical reactions in living cells. Time-resolved crystallography can reveal these changes in detail, while serial crystallography approaches are now being routinely used for studying macromolecules. Recent progress includes visualizing ultrafast and slower time-scale structural changes in proteins like bacteriorhodopsin and photosystem II.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zetian Yang, Jieqi Hu, David Van der Heggen, Ang Feng, Hairong Hu, Henk Vrielinck, Philippe F. Smet, Dirk Poelman
Summary: Flexible X-ray storage phosphor sheets are considered as promising alternatives to conventional electronic flat-panel X-ray detectors. This article proposes a method that utilizes radiation-induced photoluminescence tuning in phosphors for X-ray imaging and dosimetry. The method demonstrates good memory retention and cycling performance, with potential applications in X-ray therapy and nondestructive inspection.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Crystallography
Coilin Boland, Chia-Ying Huang, Shiva Shanker Kaki, Meitian Wang, Vincent Olieric, Martin Caffrey
Summary: Both intensity and phase information are required for structure determination in macromolecular X-ray crystallography. This study investigated the use of a mixed lipid system, in which a seleno-labelled lipid was incorporated, for experimental phasing in crystallographic structure determination of membrane proteins.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Wolfgang Koelmel, Jochen Kuper, Caroline Kisker
Summary: The anomalous scattering properties of heavy alkali metal cesium have been utilized to solve the phase problem in macromolecular X-ray crystallography. By introducing cesium chloride at various steps, a successful strategy for phasing crystal structures has been developed.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Selina L. S. Storm, Danny Axford, Robin L. Owen
Summary: A new study shows that using a high-energy X-ray data collection system can reduce the number of crystals needed, increase diffraction efficiency per unit dose, and provide more information. These findings suggest a brighter future for synchrotron-based macromolecular crystallography with high-energy X-rays.
Article
Materials Science, Paper & Wood
Juan Guo, Jiabao Chen, Qiulu Meng, Leon Ploszczanski, Jian'an Liu, Rupeng Luo, Tao Jin, Philipp Siedlaczek, Helga C. Lichtenegger, Yafang Yin, Harald Rennhofer
Summary: This article reports on a comparative analysis of eight archaeological and four recent wood samples from three archaeological sites in China. The results show that the microscale deterioration of archaeological wood is related to the fragmentation of cellulose crystallite structure and microfibrils. Alterations in molecular structures resulted in advanced degradation of both amorphous and crystalline cellulose domains.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ziming Shao, Noah Schnitzer, Jacob Ruf, Oleg Yu. Gorobtsov, Cheng Dai, Berit H. Goodge, Tiannan Yang, Hari Nair, Vlad A. Stoica, John W. Freeland, Jacob P. Ruff, Long- Qing Chen, Darrell G. Schlom, Kyle M. Shen, Lena F. Kourkoutis, Andrej Singer
Summary: New properties and exotic quantum phenomena can arise from periodic nanotextures, but visualizing nanoscale strain-modulated structural motifs remains challenging despite available tools to characterize atomic crystal structures.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Xieming Xu, Yiheng Wu, Yi Zhang, Xiaohui Li, Fang Wang, Xiaoming Jiang, Shaofan Wu, Shuaihua Wang
Summary: This study reports a 2D (C4H9NH3)(2)PbBr4 single crystal with outstanding sensitivity and stability towards X-ray radiation, providing an ultra-wide detectable X-ray range between 8.20 nGy(air) s(-1) (50 keV) and 15.24 mGy(air) s(-1) (9 MeV). The (C4H9NH3)(2)PbBr4 single crystal detector is used for high-performance X-ray imaging, delivering a good spatial resolution of 4.3 lp mm(-1) in a plane-scan imaging system.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Mohd Ishtiyak, Subhendu Jana, Gopabandhu Panigrahi, Ankit Kumar Srivastava, S. Narayanswamy, Pinaki P. Bhattacharjee, Manish K. Niranjan, Jai Prakash
Summary: Two new chalcogenides CsSc5Te8 and Cs0.6(1)Ti6Se8 were synthesized using the high-temperature solid-state sealed tube method, and their crystal structures were determined. CsSc5Te8 exhibited a monoclinic structure with Cs+ cations present in one-dimensional tunnels, while Cs0.6(1)Ti6Se8 showed a hexagonal structure with TiSe6 distorted octahedra forming three-dimensional anionic networks. Optical absorption measurements suggested CsSc5Te8 is a semiconductor with a direct bandgap of 1.2(1) eV at room temperature.
SOLID STATE SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Arpit Prashar, Omkar U. Kinkar, Ashwani Kumar, Ashok B. Hadapad, Ravindra D. Makde, Ramesh S. Hire
Summary: This study reports the crystal structures of PirA and PirB proteins from Photorhabdus akhurstii subsp. akhurstii K-1 and their toxic mechanism against insect larvae. The structures of PirA and PirB show similarity to Cry toxins and may mimic their pore formation mechanism. Furthermore, the toxic conformation of PirA and PirB appears to be achieved in-vivo with the help of ERIC sequences.
INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2023)