Anchoring protein crystals to mounting loops with hydrogel using inkjet technology.
X-ray crystallography is an important technique for structure-based drug discovery, mainly because it is the only technique that can reveal whether a ligand binds to the target protein as well as where and how it binds. However, ligand screening by X-ray crystallography involves a crystal-soaking experiment, which is usually performed manually. Thus, the throughput is not satisfactory for screening large numbers of candidate ligands. In this study, a technique to anchor protein crystals to mounting loops by using gel and inkjet technology has been developed; the method allows soaking of the mounted crystals in ligand-containing solution. This new technique may assist in the design of a fully automated drug-screening pipeline.
Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan.
Akira
A
Shinoda
Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan.
Yoshikazu
Y
Tanaka
Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan.
Min
M
Yao
Faculty of Advanced Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan.
Isao
I
Tanaka
D000818:Animals; D003460:Crystallization / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray / Q000295:instrumentation*; D055808:Drug Discovery; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000737:chemistry*; D008024:Ligands; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*
D008024:Ligands; D011506:Proteins; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate
hydrogel; inkjet; mounting