Co-crystallization

Co-crystals, which retain the unique crystalline structures with their multiple components, have become a very important subject of study in the field of pharmaceuticals (i.e., drug discovery & design). Creative Biostructure provides high-quality services to streamline the procedures of protein preparation , co-crystal generation and structure determination with the UniCrys™ X-ray crystallization platform .

Figure 1. Workflow of co-crystallization services

Prior to protein complex preparation, biophysical experiments are usually required to quantify binding affinities between a protein and its ligands (e.g., proteins, DNA/RNA, chemical compounds, metal ions,  etc .). Such quantification can be performed by either our protein analysis service or customers.

For co-crystal preparation, strategies like co-crystallization and soaking are employed with all important variables carefully tested: 1) methods for ligand addition into the protein sample; 2) incubation period; 3) effects of additive components,  etc.  As the conditions for binding assays and crystallization trials vary, extensive protocol optimization will be carried out for obtaining diffraction-quality crystals.

High-quality crystals and synchrotron light sources produce high-resolution co-crystal structures, which provide high-value insights into the binding mechanism and facilitate the drug design process. At Creative Biostructure, a variety of techniques are used for the accurate structure determination with refined electron density maps of the ligand molecules plotted (see  Protein Crystallization and Structure Determination ).

Ordering Process

Please feel free to  contact us  for a detailed quote.

References

1. Conejero-Muriel M, et al . (2015) “Protein crystallization in short-peptide supramolecular hydrogels: a versatile strategy towards biotechnological composite materials”. CrystEngComm 17:8072-8078.