Here's another very similar case: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12270703
On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 11:48 AM, William G. Scott < [email protected]> wrote: > Some things improve with age. Here is one of my favorite stories: > > > > http://tinyurl.com/oldtrna > > > The crystal structure of yeast phenylalanine tRNA at 2.0 Å resolution: > cleavage by Mg2+ in 15-year old crystals > > Luca Jovine, Snezana Djordjevica and Daniela Rhodes > > We have re-determined the crystal structure of yeast tRNAPhe to 2.0 Å > resolution using 15 year old crystals. The accuracy of the new structure, > due both to higher resolution data and formerly unavailable refinement > methods, consolidates the previous structural information, but also reveals > novel details. In particular, the water structure around the tightly bound > Mg2+ is now clearly resolved, and hence provides more accurate information > on the geometry of the magnesium-binding sites and the role of water > molecules in coordinating the metal ions to the tRNA. We have assigned a > total of ten magnesium ions and identified a partly conserved geometry for > high-affinity Mg2+ binding. In the electron density map there is also clear > density for a spermine molecule binding in the major groove of the TΨC arm > and also contacting a symmetry-related tRNA molecule. Interestingly, we have > also found that two specific regions of the tRNA in the crystals are > partially cleaved. The sites of hydrolysis are within the D and anticodon > loops in the vicinity of Mg2+. > > > > > > > > > On Feb 5, 2009, at 11:11 AM, Edward Snell wrote: > > </lurk_mode_off> >> </dumb_question_on> >> >> Dear All, >> >> I was recently trying to find references on how age may degrade a >> crystal, i.e. grow them and use them or preserve them as fresh as >> possible. I seem to remember seeing a couple of papers on this but my >> memory is fading and I have been unable to locate them. Can anyone jog >> my memory or tell me if I'm imagining things? I've found plenty on the >> protein prep etc. but nothing on the crystal. >> >> Thanks, >> >> Eddie. >> >> >> Edward Snell Ph.D. >> Assistant Prof. Department of Structural Biology, SUNY Buffalo, >> Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute >> 700 Ellicott Street, Buffalo, NY 14203-1102 >> Phone: (716) 898 8631 Fax: (716) 898 8660 >> Email: [email protected] Telepathy: 42.2 GHz >> >> Heisenberg was probably here! Crystallization, how quaint! >> >> </dumb_question_off> >> </lurk_mode_on> >> >
