Automated storage and documentation system for protein crystallography ("crystal hotel")

• Subject Area: Biological Chemistry and Food Chemistry ; Basic Research in Biology and Medicine
• Term: Funded in 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 431770762

The determination of protein structures is an important method in biomedical research to understand the function of proteins under physiological and pathological conditions. Protein crystallography is an established method to achieve this, but requires the production of protein crystals. Growing protein crystals is the major challenge in structure determination. It requires testing a large number of different conditions and multiple rounds of optimization to obtain suitable crystals. Modern equipment can help solve this problem by automating (part of) the process. The automated storage and documentation system for protein crystallization described in this application represents such a solution. In addition, the advanced imaging capabilities of the system will allow detecting protein crystals that previously would have remained unrecognized. Therefore, this instrument is an essential basis for successfully conducting protein crystallography projects.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Automatisiertes Lager- und Dokumentationssystem für die Proteinkristallisation ("Kristallhotel")
• Instrumentation Group: 1170 Kristallzüchtungsapparaturen, Kristallisationsanlagen
• Applicant Institution: Universität Münster
• Leader: Professor Dr. Daniel Kümmel