Graphene-based microfluidics for serial crystallography

Lab Chip. 2016 Aug 2;16(16):3082-96. doi: 10.1039/c6lc00451b.

Abstract

Microfluidic strategies to enable the growth and subsequent serial crystallographic analysis of micro-crystals have the potential to facilitate both structural characterization and dynamic structural studies of protein targets that have been resistant to single-crystal strategies. However, adapting microfluidic crystallization platforms for micro-crystallography requires a dramatic decrease in the overall device thickness. We report a robust strategy for the straightforward incorporation of single-layer graphene into ultra-thin microfluidic devices. This architecture allows for a total material thickness of only ∼1 μm, facilitating on-chip X-ray diffraction analysis while creating a sample environment that is stable against significant water loss over several weeks. We demonstrate excellent signal-to-noise in our X-ray diffraction measurements using a 1.5 μs polychromatic X-ray exposure, and validate our approach via on-chip structure determination using hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) as a model system. Although this work is focused on the use of graphene for protein crystallography, we anticipate that this technology should find utility in a wide range of both X-ray and other lab on a chip applications.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Crystallography / instrumentation*
  • Equipment Design
  • Graphite / chemistry*
  • Lab-On-A-Chip Devices*
  • Microfluidics / instrumentation*
  • Microscopy, Atomic Force
  • Muramidase / chemistry
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Stability
  • Surface Properties
  • X-Ray Diffraction / instrumentation

Substances

  • Graphite
  • hen egg lysozyme
  • Muramidase