Growing Crystals for X-ray Free-Electron Laser Structural Studies of Biomolecules and Their Complexes

Currently, X-ray crystallography, which typically uses synchrotron sources, remains the dominant method for structural determination of proteins and other biomolecules. However, small protein crystals do not provide sufficiently high-resolution diffraction patterns and suffer radiation damage; therefore, conventional X-ray crystallography needs larger protein crystals. The burgeoning method of serial crystallography using X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) avoids these challenges: it affords excellent structural data from weakly diffracting objects, including tiny crystals. An XFEL is implemented by irradiating microjets of suspensions of microcrystals with very intense X-ray beams. However, while the method for creating microcrystalline microjets is well established, little attention is given to the growth of high-quality nano/microcrystals suitable for XFEL experiments. In this study, in order to assist the growth of such crystals, we calculate the mean crystal size and the time needed to grow crystals to the desired size in batch crystallization (the predominant method for preparing the required microcrystalline slurries); this time is reckoned theoretically both for microcrystals and for crystals larger than the upper limit of the Gibbs-Thomson effect. The impact of the omnipresent impurities on the growth of microcrystals is also considered quantitatively. Experiments, performed with the model protein lysozyme, support the theoretical predictions.

Automated summary

X-ray crystallography is currently the dominant method for determining the structure of proteins and biomolecules. However, it faces challenges in obtaining high-resolution data from small protein crystals. Serial crystallography using XFELs is a promising alternative method that can produce excellent structural data from weakly diffracting objects. In this study, the authors calculate the mean crystal size and growth time needed for batch crystallization, which is the main method for preparing microcrystalline slurries. They also consider the impact of impurities on the growth of microcrystals. Experimental results with lysozyme support the theoretical predictions.