EVALUATION OF DETERGENTS FOR MACROMOLECULAR CRYSTALLOGRAPHY

MACROMOLICULAR CRYSTALLOGRAPHY IS INCREASINGLY BEING VIEWED AS A MAJOR TOOL FOR THE BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY. IT IS CENTRAL TO THE RATIONAL DESIGN OF NEW PHARMACEUTICALS AND GENETICALLY ENGINEERED INDUSTRIAL PROTEINS. EXTREMELY POWERFUL COMPUTERS AND THE RECENT DEVELOPMENT OF AREA DETECTORS FOR THE RAPID COLLECTION OF X-RAY DIFFRACTION DATA HAVE MOVED THE EXISTING BOTTLENECK IN MACROMOLECULAR CRYSTALLOGRAPHY BACK TO THE STAGE OF GROWING HIGH-QUALITY CRYSTALS. MEMBRANE PROTEINS HAVE BEEN PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT TO STUDY DUE TO THE IMMERSION OF THE THEIR HYDROPHOBIC REGION INTO A LIPID BILAYER. UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, IT HAS BEEN SHOWN THAT A DETERGENT CAN BE USED TO STABILIZE A MEMBRANE-FREE FORM OF THE PROTEIN. CRYSCHEM, INC. IS DEVELOPING A POWERFUL, SYSTEMATIC, AND RATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE GROWTH OF DIFFRACTION-QUALITY, SINGLE CRYSTALS OF COMMERCIALLY IMPORTANT MACROMOLECULES. ONE COMPONENT OF THIS STRATEGY IS AN INEXPENSIVE PLASTIC LABORATORY WORKSTATION. THE OTHER COMPONENT IS A SET OF STANDARDIZED PROTEIN SOLUTIONS WHOSE CRYSTALLIZATION PROPERTIES HAVE BEEN WELL DEFINED. BY PROVIDING THE CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT NECESSARY FOR THE RAPID SCREENING OF NEW DETERGENTS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON CRYSTALS GROWTH, THE PROBLEM OF GROWING QUALITY CRYSTALS FROM MEMBRANE PROTEINS CAN NOW BE STUDIED.