Hi Debasish,
I had a go at fishing crystals out of dried-out sitting drops some time ago:
" The crystals were retrieved from the surrounding viscous liquid by
dropping 1 µl cryoprotectant over the drop. This immediately started to
thin the liquid, freeing the crystals within, so that one could be
scooped out using a nylon loop mounted on a metal pin. The crystal was
then immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen. The crystals started to
dissolve in the cryoprotectant if left longer than ~1 min, so there was
generally only time to retrieve one crystal from any one drop."
The crystals diffracted to 2.1 A.
Sharpe, Baker and Lott. Acta Crystallogr Sect F Struct Biol Cryst
Commun. 2005 June 1; 61(Pt 6): 565--568.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1952335/
Good luck,
Miriam
On 21/02/14 4:59 AM, Debasish Chattopadhyay wrote:
Would you please share your experience and comments on recovering
protein crystals from dry (or almost dry hanging drops) for data
collection.
I found some beautiful crystals in hanging drops that were set up
three years ago; from the color of the crystals ( the protein binds a
colored substrate) and the their shape I know these are crystals of my
protein. I had collected data using some of these crystals when they
were fresh; resolution was poor and the overall I/sigma was low. I am
curious if the dehydration would improve the diffraction now.
Thanks
Debasish
Ph: (205)934-0124; Fax: (205)934-0480
