학술논문

Droplet microfluidics for time-resolved serial crystallography
Document Type
article
Source
IUCrJ, Vol 11, Iss 2, Pp 237-248 (2024)
Subject
droplet microfluidics
crystal miniaturization
micromixing
time-resolved serial crystallography
Crystallography
QD901-999
Language
English
ISSN
2052-2525
20522525
Abstract
Serial crystallography requires large numbers of microcrystals and robust strategies to rapidly apply substrates to initiate reactions in time-resolved studies. Here, we report the use of droplet miniaturization for the controlled production of uniform crystals, providing an avenue for controlled substrate addition and synchronous reaction initiation. The approach was evaluated using two enzymatic systems, yielding 3 µm crystals of lysozyme and 2 µm crystals of Pdx1, an Arabidopsis enzyme involved in vitamin B6 biosynthesis. A seeding strategy was used to overcome the improbability of Pdx1 nucleation occurring with diminishing droplet volumes. Convection within droplets was exploited for rapid crystal mixing with ligands. Mixing times of