Upgrade of in-house X-ray diffraction equipment

描述(由申请人提供)：“在洛克菲勒大学，有三个相对较大、非常成功和多产的结构生物学小组使用X射线结晶学作为主要工具(Darst，细菌转录的结构生物学；MacKinnon，离子通道的结构生物学；Stebbins，细菌发病机制的结构生物学)。在过去5年左右的时间里，洛克菲勒的另外三个小组开发了重要的X射线结晶学程序(Blobel，信使核导出；水稻，病毒复制；Sakmar，G蛋白偶联信号)。这些努力最初是与洛克菲勒的结构生物学家进行正式或非正式的合作，但在每一个案例中，成功都导致了这些努力的扩大，以至于这些小组支持与结构生物学家一样大而活跃的X射线结晶学项目。这种情况导致需要对洛克菲勒大学内部的X射线设备进行重大升级。具体地说，这项共享仪器拨款建议进行以下升级：1)一个R-Axis IV区域探测器，以取代MSC将不再支持的已有12年历史的R-Axis II区域探测器；2)反向&lt；)&gt；支架，以增加X射线发生器的两个端口；3)两个VariMax Cu HR共焦MAX-通量光学系统，Rigaku/MSC提供的最先进的X射线光学系统，以取代已有12年历史的MSC/Yale反射镜；4)两个X流低温系统，以取代过时的、已有15年历史的MSC冷冻系统。这些升级将显著提高机器用于筛选膜蛋白和大分子复合体的弱衍射晶体的使用，提高数据质量和吞吐量，并极大地促进其用于筛选和制备用于同步加速器TRIPS的冷冻保存晶体，这是该机器在许多NIH资助的项目中的主要用途。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): " At The Rockefeller University, there are three relatively large, highly successful and productive structural biology groups that use X-ray crystallography as a major tool (Darst, structural biology of bacterial transcription; MacKinnon, structural biology of ion channels; Stebbins, structural biology of bacterial pathogenesis). In the last 5 years or so, three additional groups at Rockefeller have developed significant X-ray crystallography programs (Blobel, mRNA nuclear export; Rice, viral replication; Sakmar, G protein-coupled signalling). These efforts began as formal or informal collaborations with the structural biologists at Rockefeller, but in each case success has led to the expansion of these efforts, such that these groups support X-ray crystallography programs as large and active as the structural biologists. This situation has led to a need for significant upgrades of the in-house X-ray equipment at The Rockefeller University. Specifically, this Shared Instrumentation Grant proposes the following upgrades: 1) An R-Axis IV++ area detector to replace a 12-year-old R-Axis II area detector that will no longer be supported by MSC; 2) Inverse <)> brackets to add to two ports of the X-ray generator; 3) Two VariMax Cu HR confocal Max-Flux optical systems, the most advanced X-ray optics system available from Rigaku/MSC, to replace 12-year-old MSC/Yale mirrors; 4) Two X-stream cryogenic systems to replace obsolete, 15-year-old MSC cryosystems that are out of repair. These upgrades will significantly enhance the use of the machine for screening weakly diffracting crystals of membrane proteins and large macromolecular complexes, enhance data quality and throughput, as well as greatly facilitate its use for the screening and preparation of cryo-preserved crystals for synchrotron trips, which is the main use of the machines for a number of NIH-supported projects.