Crystallization of Proteins on Chip by Microdialysis for <i>In Situ</i> X-ray Diffraction Studies - Université Grenoble Alpes Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE Année : 2021

Crystallization of Proteins on Chip by Microdialysis for In Situ X-ray Diffraction Studies

Résumé

Summary: This paper details the fabrication protocol of microfluidic chips developed for on-chip protein crystallization with the dialysis method and in situ X-ray diffraction experiments. The microfabrication process makes it possible to integrate a semipermeable regenerated cellulose dialysis membrane with any molecular weight cut-off, between two layers of the chip. Abstract: This protocol describes the manufacturing of reproducible and inexpensive microfluidic devices covering the whole pipeline for crystallizing proteins on-chip with the dialysis method and allowing in situ single-crystal or serial crystallography experiments at room temperature. The protocol details the fabrication process of the microchips, the manipulation of the on-chip crystallization experiments and the treatment of the in situ collected X-ray diffraction data for the structural elucidation of the protein sample. The main feature of this microfabrication procedure lies on the integration of a commercially available, semipermeable regenerated cellulose dialysis membrane in between two layers of the chip. The molecular weight cut-off of the embedded membrane varies depending on the molecular weight of the macromolecule and the precipitants. The device exploits the advantages of microfluidic technology, such as the use of minute volumes of samples (<1 µL) and fine tuning over transport phenomena. The chip coupled them with the dialysis method, providing precise and reversible control over the crystallization process and can be used for investigating phase diagrams of proteins at the microliter scale. The device is patterned using a photocurable thiolene-based resin with soft imprint lithography on an optically transparent polymeric substrate. Moreover, the background scattering of the materials composing the microchips and generating background noise was evaluated rendering the chip compatible for in situ X-ray diffraction experiments. Once protein crystals are grown on-chip up to an adequate size and population uniformity, the microchips can be directly mounted in front of the X-ray beam with the aid of a 3D printed holder. This approach addresses the challenges rising from the use of cryoprotectants and manual harvesting in conventional protein crystallography experiments through an easy and inexpensive manner. Complete X-ray diffraction data sets from multiple, isomorphous lysozyme crystals grown on-chip were collected at room temperature for structure determination.

Dates et versions

hal-03207897 , version 1 (26-04-2021)

Identifiants

Citer

Sofia Jaho, Niels Junius, Franck Borel, Yoann Sallaz-Damaz, Jean-Baptiste Salmon, et al.. Crystallization of Proteins on Chip by Microdialysis for In Situ X-ray Diffraction Studies. Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE, 2021, 170, ⟨10.3791/61660⟩. ⟨hal-03207897⟩
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