Challenges and Opportunities for Time-resolved Crystallography at the Next Generation X-Ray Sources
R. Pahl
Center for Advanced Radiation Sources, The University of Chicago
Synchrotron radiation has profoundly influenced the field of macromolecular biology. Technological developments in recent years have enabled new opportunities for rapid structure determination (structural genomics and proteomics) as well as the observation of short-lived structural intermediates during protein reactions. Utilizing the timing structure of the 3rd generation synchrotron radiation sources the laser pump – x-ray probe technique has been successfully applied to numerous systems, e.g. the study of CO photo dissociation in myoglobin, the allosteric transition in HbI, and the photocycle of various photoreceptors (PYP, NifL, etc).
Efforts at BioCARS have also shown first results in using the Laue method to determine structural changes of enzymes throughout the catalytic cycle. These studies are particular interesting as they are aimed at the actual reaction kinetic within the cell. Unfortunately, the experimental conditions often lead to irreversible processes, thus challenging both instrumentation and sample requirements.
In this presentation I will review the potential impact and benefits of an ERL facility on time-resolved x-ray crystallography. Examples will be given how the increased brilliance and the special timing schema of the x-ray source could advance our knowledge from studies with present synchrotron radiation sources.
