Protein Crystallization Unit

The Protein Crystallization core facility in Department 1 (Protein Evolution) provides access to a Cartesian Honeybee crystallization robot and a Formulatrix Rock Maker and Imager system for automated nanoliter screening and imaging applications. The facility runs under the supervision of Kornelius Zeth and is used to 80% by Department 1 and to 20% by Department 6. At the moment protein samples (100 - 200 nl per drop) are typically screened against 1200 different crystallization conditions and the crystallization progress is monitored by the Imager system for up to six month. Protein samples for crystallization are mainly prepared at the MPI, but collaborations exist with Prof. Joachim Schulz (University of Tübingen), Prof. Stephan Nussberger (University of Stuttgart) and Prof. Dieter Oesterhelt (Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Martinsried). Protein crystals are pre-tested at the rotating anode of the Biochemical Institute of Tübingen University (Prof. Thilo Stehle) and crystal data of higher quality are collected at the PX10 (SLS, Villigen, Switzerland) and BW6 (DESY, Hamburg) beamlines.