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Trimethylamine N ‐oxide as a versatile cryoprotective agent in macromolecular crystallography
Author(s) -
MuellerDieckmann Christoph,
Kauffmann Brice,
Weiss Manfred S.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of applied crystallography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.429
H-Index - 162
ISSN - 1600-5767
DOI - 10.1107/s0021889811000045
Subject(s) - macromolecule , trimethylamine , diffraction , crystallography , crystal (programming language) , materials science , macromolecular substances , chemistry , x ray crystallography , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , biochemistry , optics , computer science , physics , programming language
The surge of macromolecular crystallography is intimately linked to the advent of methods for cryoprotecting macromolecular crystals. Only if crystals are kept cold during data collection can they withstand the effects of radiation damage during a diffraction experiment, especially at third‐generation synchrotron sources. While a number of different cryoprotective agents and procedures have been described in the literature over the past three decades, it is still a time‐ and crystal‐consuming process to establish and optimize a good cryo‐condition for a specific crystal. In this study, trimethylamine N ‐oxide (TMAO) has been identified as a very versatile cryoprotectant for macromolecular crystals. In a few test cases it was shown that diffraction data collected from crystals treated with TMAO are of very good quality.