Breaking the radiation damage limit with Cryo-SAXS.

ABSTRACT: Small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) is a versatile and widely used technique for obtaining low-resolution structures of macromolecules and complexes. SAXS experiments measure molecules in solution, without the need for labeling or crystallization. However, radiation damage currently limits the application of SAXS to molecules that can be produced in microgram quantities; for typical proteins, 10-20 μL of solution at 1 mg/mL is required to accumulate adequate signal before irreversible x-ray damage is observed. Here, we show that cryocooled proteins and nucleic acids can withstand doses at least two orders of magnitude larger than room temperature samples. We demonstrate accurate T = 100 K particle envelope reconstructions from sample volumes as small as 15 nL, a factor of 1000 smaller than

SUBMITTER: Meisburger SP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3540250 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature