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Opening the high-pressure domain beyond 2 kbar to protein and virus crystallography--technical advance
Roger Fourme1, Isabella Ascone, Richard Kahn
1SYNCHROTRON SOLEIL, bât. 209H, Université Paris-Sud, 91898 Orsay cedex, France. roger.fourme@soleil.u-psud.fr
Structure (London, England : 1993)
|October 16, 2002
Abstract:
The combined use of a diamond anvil cell and ultrashort-wavelength undulator radiation has allowed the collection of high-resolution diffraction data from protein and virus crystals submitted to hydrostatic pressures beyond 2 kbar. Crystals of cubic cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) can be compressed to at least 3.5 kbar. Diffraction from CPMV crystals displaying an unusual disorder at atmospheric pressure was considerably enhanced by application of pressure. These experiments suggest that pressure may be used in some cases to improve order in crystals.