Undulator Resource for Structural Biology
From BTRR
Overview
The Undulator Resource for Structural Biology is a facility for macromolecular crystallography at Sectors 8 and 24 of the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The resource is overseen by the Northeastern Collaborative Access Team, which includes scientists from Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Rockefeller University, and Yale University. Research emphasis is placed on signal transduction, DNA transcription initiation and regulation, cell cycle regulation, virus structure and function, membrane proteins, protein folding, and enzyme structure and function. Many of the research projects focus on how biological molecules interact to form large macromolecular complexes. The macromolecules studied by resource users often involve large unit cells, small crystals, weakly diffracting crystals, and crystals with weak anomalous scattering. Construction of the undulator resource involves development of a novel dual undulator design utilizing components developed by the APS. Other technologic research includes use of diamond monochromators, focusing optics, methods of phase determination, radiation damage, X-ray detectors, automated sample mounting, microdiffraction, and crystallographic software.
Current Research
Our primary technologic research involves designing and constructing a third undulator beamline, continuing to optimize the beamlines for experiments with challenging samples, adding microdiffraction capabilities to our beamlines, relocating our bending magnet beamline at Sector 8 (with its automated sample mounting system) to Sector 24, and continuing to develop software for crystallographic computing. The core science emphasis is to solve new, technically challenging crystal structures. These include macromolecular assemblies and membrane proteins for which the crystals are frequently small and weakly diffracting with large unit cells. In many cases, MAD phasing will require high-energy resolution because of weak anomalous signals or the presence of many anomalous scattering atoms.
