Using synchrotrons and XFELs for time-resolved X-ray crystallography and solution scattering experiments on biomolecules

Matteo Levantino; Briony A Yorke; Diana Cf Monteiro; Marco Cammarata; Arwen R Pearson

doi:10.1016/j.sbi.2015.07.017

Using synchrotrons and XFELs for time-resolved X-ray crystallography and solution scattering experiments on biomolecules

Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2015 Dec:35:41-8. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2015.07.017. Epub 2015 Sep 3.

Authors

Matteo Levantino¹, Briony A Yorke², Diana Cf Monteiro³, Marco Cammarata⁴, Arwen R Pearson⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics and Chemistry, University of Palermo, Palermo 90128, Italy.
² Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging & Institute of Nanostructure and Solid State Physics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg 22607, Germany.
³ Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology & School of Chemistry, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
⁴ Department of Physics, UMR UR1-CNRS 6251, University of Rennes 1, Rennes 35042, France.
⁵ Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging & Institute of Nanostructure and Solid State Physics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg 22607, Germany. Electronic address: arwen.pearson@cfel.de.

PMID: 26342489
DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2015.07.017

Abstract

Time-resolved structural information is key to understand the mechanism of biological processes, such as catalysis and signalling. Recent developments in X-ray sources as well as data collection and analysis methods are making routine time-resolved X-ray crystallography and solution scattering experiments a real possibility for structural biologists. Here we review the information that can be obtained from these techniques and discuss the considerations that must be taken into account when designing a time-resolved experiment.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Crystallography, X-Ray / instrumentation
Crystallography, X-Ray / methods*
Electrons*
Humans
Lasers*
Scattering, Radiation*
Solutions
Synchrotrons*

Substances

Solutions