title: Promoting protein crystallization using a plate with simple geometry.
abstract: Increasing the probability of obtaining protein crystals in crystallization screening is always an important goal for protein crystallography. In this paper, a new method called the cross-diffusion microbatch (CDM) method is presented, which aims to efficiently promote protein crystallization and increase the chance of obtaining protein crystals. In this method, a very simple crystallization plate was designed in which all crystallization droplets are in one sealed space, so that a variety of volatile components from one droplet can diffuse into any other droplet via vapour diffusion. Crystallization screening and reproducibility tests indicate that this method could be a potentially powerful technique in practical protein crystallization screening. It can help to obtain crystals with higher probability and at a lower cost, while using a simple and easy procedure.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Special Environmental Biophysics, Key Laboratory for Space Bioscience and Space Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 Youyixi Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Rui-Qing
authors.initials: RQ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute for Special Environmental Biophysics, Key Laboratory for Space Bioscience and Space Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 Youyixi Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Da-Chuan
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Institute for Special Environmental Biophysics, Key Laboratory for Space Bioscience and Space Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 Youyixi Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yong-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Special Environmental Biophysics, Key Laboratory for Space Bioscience and Space Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 Youyixi Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qin-Qin
authors.initials: QQ
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Special Environmental Biophysics, Key Laboratory for Space Bioscience and Space Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 Youyixi Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Institute for Special Environmental Biophysics, Key Laboratory for Space Bioscience and Space Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 Youyixi Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D002374:Catalase / Q000737:chemistry; D002645:Chickens; D002919:Chymotrypsinogen / Q000737:chemistry; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000737:chemistry; D003460:Crystallization / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D009113:Muramidase / Q000737:chemistry; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000191:economics; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D003208:Concanavalin A; D002919:Chymotrypsinogen; D002374:Catalase; D000123:Acetyltransferases; C021369:homoserine O-acetyltransferase; C421864:hen egg lysozyme; D009113:Muramidase
keywords: cross-diffusion microbatch method; crystallization