[en] The crystallisation by counterdiffusion is a very efficient technique for obtaining high-quality protein crystals. A prerequisite for the use of counterdiffusion techniques is that mass transport must be controlled by diffusion alone. Sedimentation and convection can be avoided by either working in gelled systems, working in systems of small dimensions, or in the absence of gravity. We present the results from experiments performed on the ISS using the Protein Microscope for the International Space Station (PromISS), using digital holography to visualise crystal growth processes. We extensively characterised three model proteins for these experiments (cablys3*lysozyme, triose phosphate isomerase, and parvalbumin) and used these to assess the ISS as an environment for crystallisation by counterdiffusion. The possibility to visualise growth and movement of crystals in different types of experiments (capillary counterdiffusion and batch-type) is important, as movement of crystals is clearly not negligible.
Disciplines :
Biochemistry, biophysics & molecular biology
Author, co-author :
Zegers, Ingrid; Vrije Universiteit Brussel - VUB > Department Ultrastructure
Carotenuto, Luigi; MARS Center, Napoli
Evrard, Christine ; Université Catholique de Louvain - UCL > Département de Chimie > Unité de Chimie Structurale (CSTR)
Garcia-Ruiz, JuanMa; Edifício BIC Granada
De Gieter, Philippe; Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB > Microgravity Research centre
Gonzales- Ramires, Luis; Edifício BIC Granada
Istasse, Eric; Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB > Microgravity Research centre
Legros, Jean-Claude; Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB > Microgravity Research Centre
Martial, Joseph ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences de la vie > GIGA-R : Biologie et génétique moléculaire
Minetti, Christophe; Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB > Microgravity Research centre
Otalora, Fermin; Edifício BIC Granada
Queeckers, Patrick; Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB > Microgravity Research centre
Schockeart, Cédric; Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB > Microgravity Research centre
Van de Weerdt, Cécile ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences de la vie > GIGA-R : Biologie et génétique moléculaire
Willaert, Ronnie; Vrije Universiteit Brussel - VUB > Department Ultrastructure
Wyns, Lode; Vrije Universiteit Brussel - VUB > Department Ultrastructure
Yourassowsky, Catherine; Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB > Microgravity Research centre
Dubois, Frank; Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB > Microgravity Research centre
Zagalsky, P.F., Wright, C.E., Parsons, M., Crystallization of laphacrustacyanin, the lobster carapace astaxanthin-protein: Results from EURECA (1995) Adv. Space Res., 16, pp. 91-94
Vergara, A., Lorber, B., Zagari, A., Giege, R., Physical aspects of protein crystal growth investigated with the Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility in reduced-gravity environments (2003) Acta Crystallographica Section D-biological Crystallography Vol. 59, pp. 2-15
Snell, E.H., Helliwell, J.R., Macromolecular crystallization in microgravity (2005) Rep. Prog. Phys., 68, pp. 799-853
Chayen, N., Helliwell, J.R., Protein crystallizationj in microgravity: Are we reaping the full benefit of outer space? (2002) Annal. New York Academy of Sciences Vol. 594, pp. 591-597
Ng, J.D., Gavira, J.A., Garcia-Ruiz, J.M., Protein crystallization by capillary counterdiffusion for applied crystallographic structure determination (2003) Journal of Structural Biology Vol. 142, pp. 218-231
Maes, D., Gonzalez-Ramirez, L.A., Lopez-Jaramillo, J., Yu, B., De Bondt, H., Zegers, I., Afonina, E., Gulnik, S., Structural study of the type II 3-dehydroquinate dehydratase from Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (2004) Acta Crystallogr. D. Biol. Crystallogr. Vol. 60, pp. 463-471
Otalora, F., Garciaruiz, J.M., Computer model of the diffusion reaction interplay in the gel acupuncture method (1996) Journal of Crystal Growth Vol. 169, pp. 361-367
Carotenuto, L., Piccolo, C., Castagnolo, D., Lappa, M., Tortora, A., Garcia-Ruiz, J.M., Experimental observations and numerical modelling of diffusion-driven crystallisation processes (2002) Acta Crystallographica Section D-biological Crystallography Vol. 58, pp. 1628-1632
Dubois, F., Joannes, L., Legros, J.C., Improved three-dimensional imaging with a digital holography microscope with a source of partial spatial coherence (1999) Applied Optics Vol. 38, pp. 7085-7094. , 12-1
Dubois, F., Requena, M.L.N., Minetti, C., Monnom, O., Istasse, E., Partial spatial coherence effects in digital holographic microscopy with a laser source (2004) Applied Optics Vol. 43, pp. 1131-1139. , 2-10
Garcia-Ruiz, J.M., Drenth, J., Ries-Kautt, M., Tardieu, A., (2001) Physical Sciences and Applications - Macromolecular Crystallisation, pp. 159-171