Creative BioMart is a well-known expert in the development of a variety of methods to analyze the correctness of protein structures and models with the aim of improving protein stability, affinity kinetics, solubility and activity. With years of experience, we provide customized protein crystallization service to precisely meet customer requirements.

Introduction of Protein Crystallization

Protein crystallization is discovered by chance about 150 years ago, and the first protein crystals came from hemoglobin in worms and fish. Proteins are generally amorphous solids and prone to denaturation, whereas proteins present in crystal lattices resist denaturation and have greater stability. Protein crystallization is thus the act and method of creating structured, ordered lattices for complex macromolecules. In the late 19th century protein crystallization was developed as a powerful purification tool and proof of chemical purity. The most common way to create protein crystals is by X-ray diffraction crystallography. Producing stable proteins presents challenges for protein crystallization, which is influenced by multiple factors, such as metal ions, inhibitors, cofactors, or other conventional small molecules.

Fig 1. Typical outcomes of a protein crystallization experiment. (Dessau M A, et al., 2011)

Services

Various methods have been developed to combine various factors affecting and promoting crystallization, of which vapor diffusion, dialysis, batch and liquid-liquid diffusion are the most widely used. Additionally easy-to-use screening kits and laboratory robotics are used for macromolecular crystallization. As a leading service provider of protein engineering, Creative BioMart has successfully established an X-ray diffraction platform to determine the three-dimensional structure of crystallized proteins.

Based on a powerful X-ray diffraction platform, we can offer a variety of protein crystallizations, including co-crystallization, peptide crystallization, membrane protein crystallization and viral envelope glycoprotein crystallization. In addition, we also focus on high-throughput screening of protein crystal conditions, protein synchrotron radiation diffraction data collection and protein crystal structure elucidation. Our protein crystallization service relies on the following protein crystallization steps:

• Choosing an appropriate solvent. Considerations include solubility, safety, stability and free energy state.
• Reaching supersaturation. Soluble peptide/protein drug in solvent or buffer is heated to maximum allowable tolerance.
• The protein is crystallized by controlling parameters. Solubility is reduced by cooling, addition of anti-solvent, evaporation. As solubility decreases, a point is reached where crystals will nucleate and then grow.
• Let the system reach a point of equilibrium.
• The purified product was filtered and dried.

Applications of Protein Crystallization

Proteins are increasingly important as therapeutics. Protein crystallisation, a method of producing pure, stable solid dosage forms and many protein crystal-related injectable and infusion therapeutics, has received much attention in the field.

• Medicinal Chemistry through Structural Biology. Protein crystallization techniques and improved X-ray crystallography are widely used to infer 3D protein structures.
• Development, scale-up, isolation and purification of protein-based therapeutics.
• Formulation and Administration.

Creative BioMart is committed to providing state-of-the-art crystallization services to clients worldwide, where X-ray crystallography includes all stages of protein crystal structure determination. We will work with you to develop the most appropriate strategy and provide the most meaningful data for your research for accelerating the research of life sciences. If you are interested in our services, please do not hesitate to contact us for more information.

Reference

1. Dessau M A, Modis Y. (2011) Protein crystallization for X-ray crystallography[J]. JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments). 47: e2285.

• Detection of Errors in Protein Models
• Folding and Molecular Simulation Service
• Molecular Docking Service
• Protein Conformational Isomerism Detection and Analysis Service
• Protein Model Ranking and Analysis Service