X-ray Crystallography

The x-ray crystallography facility is operated jointly by the University of Maryland at Baltimore School of Pharmacy and the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. It is located on the fifth floor of the Health Sciences Facility II (HSFII) in Room S516/S518. The overall supervision is provided by the X-ray Crystallography Community Members.

The purpose of the X-ray Crystallography Shared Service is to provide equipment, training, assistance, and technological innovations for determining three-dimensional structures of protein and other macromolecules to understand the structural basis for biological function and dynamics. The facility provides instrumentation and expertise for collecting and processing x-ray diffraction data from macromolecular single crystals and is available to all the research groups inside and outside the campus.

Services

• Protein crystallization
• X-ray characterization of crystals
• Data collection
• Processing and quality analysis of data
• Structure determination
• Molecular modeling
• Molecular docking and structure visualization and analysis.

The facility also provides services for protein purification, which is the first essential step for successful protein structure resolution.

Users who have sufficient technical expertise to carry out data collection and analysis will get assistance from the facility staff as needed. However, only trained users with specific permission will be allowed to operate the x-ray equipment.

Instrumentation

• Rigaku-MSC Micromax 7 generator equipped with a Raxis-4++ image plate detector
• State-of-the-art detector systems
• Oxford Cryosystems Cryocooler
• Crystal manipulation accessories, such as microscope with attached camera for crystal viewing/documentation
• Computer suite for data analysis and structure determination
• Popular x-ray diffraction data processing software suites, such as HKL2000, CCP4, CNS, and O.

Fees

• Use of the Facility for authorized personnel: $1,500/year
• Training by our staff: $50/day (1 day only)
• Crystallization Screening: $28/plate
• Optimization of Crystal Growth: $32/plate
• Crystal Diffraction Testing: $25/hour
• X-ray Data Collection: $50/day
• Data analysis: $25/hour
• Protein Purification: Contact us
• Other Services: Contact us

Contact

Averell Gnatt, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics
655 West Baltimore St.
Baltimore MD 21201
E-mail: agnatt001@umaryland.edu
Phone: 410-706-8239
Fax: 410-706-0032

Eric Toth, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
108 N. Greene St.
Baltimore, MD 21201
E-mail: etoth001@umaryland.edu
Phone: 410-706-5345
Fax: 410-706-8297