Tools to ease the choice and design of protein crystallisation experiments

Abstract

The process of macromolecular crystallisation almost always begins by setting up crystallisation trials using commercial or other premade screens, followed by cycles of optimisation where the crystallisation cocktails are focused towards a particular small region of chemical space. The screening process is relatively straightforward, but still requires an understanding of the plethora of commercially available screens. Optimisation is complicated by requiring both the design and preparation of the appropriate secondary screens. Software has been developed in the C3 lab to aid the process of choosing initial screens, to analyse the results of the initial trials, and to design and describe how to prepare optimisation screens.