Device for Hosting a Probe Solution of Molecules in a Plurality of Independent Cells

Simple SummaryContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

This patent describes a device and an associated automated system for growing and analyzing molecular crystals using X-ray diffraction. The device consists of multiple sealed wells—each containing a specimen made from thin plates where the probe solution is stored and crystals can grow. Using automation, individual specimens can be remotely extracted and transferred into an ultrasonic acoustic levitator for X-ray diffraction experiments, determining the crystals' atomic structure with high precision and minimal manual intervention. The system allows fast and automated serial data collection even for crystals grown in highly viscous media (such as membrane proteins in meso phase), overcoming limitations of previous manual and semi-automated approaches.

Use CasesContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Automated structure determination of protein and membrane protein crystals for pharmaceutical research and drug discovery.
• High-throughput analysis of crystallized molecules in academic and industrial structural biology laboratories.
• Screening and optimization of crystallization conditions for new biomolecules.
• Rapid and automated harvesting and analysis of small crystals grown in viscous or challenging media, such as the meso phase.
• Application in serial femtosecond crystallography for studying dynamic molecular structures.

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Minimizes manual handling and intervention, reducing risk of human error and sample damage.
• Enables truly automated, high-throughput X-ray crystallography on small or difficult-to-handle crystals.
• Supports parallel processing by hosting many independent crystal growth experiments in one device.
• Improves specimen stability and X-ray data quality due to optimized specimen geometry and acoustic levitation.
• Accelerates and streamlines experimental workflows for structural biology and pharmaceutical development.
• Allows analysis of crystals directly from viscous media without the need for manual extraction or manipulation.

Technical Classifications (CPCs)

Inventors & Applicants

Patent Abstract

The present invention discloses a device (2) to host a solution (12) for crystal growth including a plurality of cells (3) and an instrument (70, 120) for X-ray diffraction experiments of said crystal (28) in a specimen (9) in said cell to determine the atomic structure of crystals (28). Said cell (3) comprising a well (4), a specimen (10) comprising thin-plates (10, 11) that are placed in said well, and a top plate (5) and a bottom plate (6). The solution (12) is hosted in the specimen (9) between said thin-plates (10, 11) or just on one thin-plate. At least one of a top plate (5) and/or a bottom plate (6) is equipped with an opening (7) with a cap (8) that seals said opening (7). Each specimen (9) can be extracted independently from each well (4) by removing the cap (8) that can be reused again.Further, the present invention discloses an instrument (70, 120) of the automated X-ray diffraction experiments for small crystals (28, 94, 134) contained in the specimen (9) extracted from the wells of the device (2) utilising the ultrasonic acoustic levitator to determine the crystal structure at atomic resolution. Each specimen (9) is remotely harvested from the device (2) and loaded into the acoustic levitator by using automated apparatus (101,102,103). During the data collection of the X-ray diffraction images, the X-ray beam (82,122) is scanned over the said levitated specimen (85, 125) along a spiral trajectory by way of rotating the specimen around an axis perpendicular to the disc plane of the specimen, and moving in the direction perpendicular to the X-ray beam and the rotation axis at the same time. The serial crystallography X-ray diffraction dataset of said crystals is collected by continuously recording the X-ray diffraction images (84, 124) by using a fast frame rate pixelated X-ray image detector (83, 123) during the scanning of said X-ray beam over said specimen (85, 125) .