University of California

Robert A Nordmeyer

Raymond C Stevens

Earl Cornell

Derek T Yegian

Bernard D Santarsiero

Joseph M Jaklevic

Peter G Schultz

William F Kolbe

Daniel Pinkel

Donna G Albertson

Gyorgy Snell

Greg Hamilton

Nils W Brown

Thomas N Earnest

Carl W Cork

Jian Jin

Peter G Shultz

Joseph M Jaklevich

Arthur L Jones

Donald C Uber

Earl W Cornell

This invention provides improved components (e.g. array 'pins', print head, substrate platen, print head platen, and the like) for microarray printing devices as well as microarray printing devices incorporating such components. In one embodiment, this invention provides a microarray print head comprising a plurality of glass or quartz spotting capillaries disposed in a support that maintains a fixed spacing between the spotting capillaries and that permits the spotting capillaries to move in a direction parallel to the long axis of the capillaries.

Capillary pins for high-efficiency microarray printing device

A method and apparatus for the transportation, remote and unattended mounting, and visual alignment and monitoring of protein crystals for synchrotron generated x-ray diffraction analysis. The protein samples are maintained at liquid nitrogen temperatures at all times: during shipment, before mounting, mounting, alignment, data acquisition and following removal. The samples must additionally be stably aligned to within a few microns at a point in space. The ability to accurately perform these tasks remotely and automatically leads to a significant increase in sample throughput and reliability for high-volume protein characterization efforts. Since the protein samples are placed in a shipping-compatible layered stack of sample cassettes each holding many samples, a large number of samples can be shipped in a single cryogenic shipping container.

Integrated crystal mounting and alignment system for high-throughput biological crystallography

A method is provided for performing array microcrystallizations to determine suitable crystallization conditions for a molecule, the method comprising: forming an array of microcrystallizations, each microcrystallization comprising a drop comprising a mother liquor solution whose composition varies within the array and a molecule to be crystallized, the drop having a volume of less than 1 microliter; storing the array of microcrystallizations under conditions suitable for molecule crystals to form in the drops in the array; and detecting molecule crystal formation in the drops by taking images of the drops.

Automated method for setting up multiple crystallization experiments in submicroliter volumes

A method is provided for forming crystallization experiments for a molecule, the method comprising forming a plurality of crystallization experiments that comprise a molecule to be crystallized and a composition that varies among the plurality of crystallization experiments, the crystallization experiments having a volume less than 1 microliter, the volumes of the plurality of crystallization experiments varying among the experiments by less than 25 nL.

Method for performing submicroliter crystallization experiments with high experiment to experiment precision

Method for performing high density submicroliter crystallization experiments

A method is provided for performing crystallization experiments for a molecule, the method comprising performing a plurality of crystallization experiments where the crystallization experiments have volumes of less than 1 microliter, the crystallization experiments comprising a molecule to be crystallized and a composition that varies among the plurality of crystallization experiments detecting crystal formation in the crystallization experiments.

Method for performing submicroliter crystallization experiments

A method is provided for characterizing a crystal structure of a molecule, the method comprising performing a plurality of crystallization experiments where the crystallization experiments have volumes of less than 1 microliter, the crystallization experiments comprising a molecule to be crystallized and a composition that varies among the plurality of crystallization experiments and diffracting a crystal formed in one of the crystallization experiments.

Method for diffracting crystals formed by submicroliter crystallization experiments

Method for screening microcrystallizations for crystal formation

A method is provided for performing array microcrystallizations to determine suitable crystallization conditions for a molecule. The method comprises forming an array of microcrystallizations, each microcrystallization comprising a drop containing a molecule to be crystallized, the drop having a volume of less than 1 &mgr;L; storing the array of microcrystallizations under conditions suitable for molecule crystals to form in the drops in the array; and detecting molecule crystal formation in the drops.

Methods and apparatus for performing array microcrystallizations

Growing community of inventors

San Leandro, CA, United States of America

Robert A Nordmeyer