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Molecular Life Sciences pp 1–9Cite as

Obtaining Crystals

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Synopsis

Protein structure determination is one of the important steps for understanding the function of biological systems. Purified protein solution is used for setting up crystal screens. Obtaining pure protein solution generally involves two or more purification steps, and optimization of each step is needed. Better expression systems should be explored for each protein of interest for obtaining reasonable amount of proteins (2–5 mg) for crystallization. Purified protein has to be stable, homogenous, and monodisperse for the fulfillment of crystallization. Protein crystallization is performed by mixing protein solution with different conditions (buffers, additives, and precipitants) at microliter scale (0.1–20 μL) in a tray and incubated for a period of time. Different methods and screenings for setting up crystal trays can be explored for each protein. The most common method is called vapor diffusion with hanging drop and sitting drop methods. More automated methods of...

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References

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Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Dr. James Thompson and the members of the Romero laboratory for thoughtful comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by NIH grants EY017732 & DK092408 (MFR) and the Mayo Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering & Nephrology & Hypertension, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Wasantha K. Ranatunga & Michael F. Romero

  2. State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Huaxi Campus, Sichuan University, Pharmaceutical road, 610041, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

    Dan Su

Authors
  1. Wasantha K. Ranatunga
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  2. Dan Su
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  3. Michael F. Romero
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wasantha K. Ranatunga .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Chemistry, University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, USA

    Ellis Bell

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Ranatunga, W.K., Su, D., Romero, M.F. (2014). Obtaining Crystals. In: Bell, E. (eds) Molecular Life Sciences. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6436-5_28-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6436-5_28-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6436-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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