Course or Conference 4

Practical Protein Crystallization Course, Uppsala, Sep 15-19, 2008

The goal of the course is to present methods of macromolecular crystallization and give hands-on experience with them. Participants may bring their own proteins. The course is divided into 50% lectures and 50% laboratory sessions. Limit: 20 participants.

• Topics to be covered by lectures and laboratory sessions include:
• Conventional techniques and their modifications.
• High-throughput crystallization screening.
• The path to crystals. The phase diagram and the kinetics of equilibration.
• Optimization: Exploiting protein formulation, cocktail formulation, and time to equilibration.
• Using a microfluidic device to determine protein precipitation boundaries.
• A pro-active strategy for crystallization.
• Oils as tools for crystallization.
• How to choose your method of crystallization.
• Seeding as an optimization tool.
• Interpretation of the crystallization drop phenomenon: recognizing what you see.
• Does it matter what screen that you use?
• Biophysical tools for crystallization: mass spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, Thermofluor.
• Crystal clear communication: the role of LIMS in a crystallization laboratory.
• Cryoprotection.

[Official course page]