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The meeting will focus on the research and developments going on at the MX beamlines. It will give us an opportunity to present our current plans and projects and discuss these with our user community. We want to this meeting to be interactive to get as much valuable input as possible. We also encourage everybody attending to bring posters.
We have four themes planned for the workshop. Each will consist of talks from Diamond staff and users with experience in the area and we will leave plenty of time for questions and discussions.
Workshop Programme
Please see below for current programme. More speakers will be added over the coming weeks, so please check regularly for updates.
September 7th
| 10:30 | Registration & coffee |
| 11:00 | Welcome & facility update |
| 11:45 | Introduction and update on MX at Diamond Speakers: Dave Stuart (Diamond) and Dave Hall (Diamond) |
| 12:30 | Lunch and poster session |
| 14:00 | Spectroscopy |
| Spectroscopy tools for the Diamond MX beamlines, Thomas Sorensen, Diamond Light Source, UK | |
| Single Crystal Spectrophotometry enhancement of MX, Peter Moody, University of Leceister, UK | |
| The powerful combination of single crystal spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography, Arwen Pearson, University of Leeds, UK | |
| 15:30 | Tea and coffee |
| 16:00 | Crystal dehydration and RT data collection |
| Using the HC1 with membrane proteins Alex Cameron, Imperial College Membrane Protein Laboratory, Diamond Light Source, UK | |
| Improved diffraction of C. crescentus PNPase crystals by dehydration with HC1, Steven Hardwick , Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, UK, | |
| The HC1 at Diamond, Juan Sanchez-Weatherby, Diamond Light Source, UK | |
| 17:30 | User meeting joint session - Keynote speaker, Prof Venki Ramakrishnan |
| 18:30 | Pre-banquet drinks |
| 19:00 | Conference Banquet - R22 Restaurant |
September 8th
| 09:00 | Using microfocus |
| Variable sized microbeams, in situ characterization and data collection, Gwyndaf Evans, Diamond Light Source, UK | |
| Microfocus beam for screening and data collection for our human membrane protein structural biology pipeline, Liz Carpenter, The Structural Genomics Consortium, Oxford, UK | |
| The human Histamine H1 receptor – small crystals with high impact, Simone Weyand, Membrane Protein Laboratory, Diamond Light Source, UK | |
| 10:30 | Poster session & coffee |
| 11:30 | Getting the most of your beamtime |
| An update on how to get the most from your beamtime, Alun Ashton, Diamond Light Source, UK | |
| Remote macromolecular X-ray crystallographic data collection at Diamond from a user's perspective, Dave Lawson, Department of Biological Chemistry, John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK | |
| Optimal Beamtime Usage – an Industrial Perspective, Michael Engel, Agilent, UK | |
| High-throughput crystallography in academic drug discovery, Isaac Westwood, Institute of Cancer Research | |
| 13:00 | Lunch with poster prizes |
| 14:00 | Discussion session MX representative on the Diamond User Committee Peter Moody (Leicester) and Johan Turkenburg (York) will be chairing discussion session |
| 15:15 | Finish |
User Meeting Day 1
Introduction and update on MX at Diamond, followed by start of themed sessions.
Theme 1: Spectroscopy
Additional information is often required to aid the transition from structure to function. In-situ spectroscopic methods such as UV–Vis absorption and Raman can provide this. An in-situ microspectrophotometer designed for the Diamond MX beamlines is currently being commissioned. Initially this will be capable of UV-Vis (230-900nm) only, but further spectroscopic capabilities will be added as part of an on-going development project. The setup will be introduced and the information that can be obtained will be further discussed with case studies from beta users.
Theme 2: Crystal dehydration and RT data collection
Changing the hydration state of protein crystals can improve the diffraction quality. The HC1b device, available on the beamlines and off-line in our beamline laboratory, makes it possible to do this in a controlled manner. The technique will be discussed and examples of successful use will be presented. The device also provides a straightforward way for RT datacollection. Again we’ll discuss when RT datacollection is a good idea and how to get the best from your crystals at RT.
User Meeting Day 2
Theme 3: Using microfocus
When is a microfocus beamline useful? With a dedicated microfocus beamline and three beamlines offering microfocus as an option, we’ll discuss how to get the best from a small beam. A microfocus beam can address the challenge of smaller crystal samples and/or identify “sweet spots” in larger crystals. We’ll present the current status and future plans while a number of users will give examples of how microfocus beam was used to solve some challenging structures.
Theme 4: Optimal beamtime
High flux, robotics, fast read-out detectors, and automatic data processing - just some of the recent developments. What is the best way forward and how can these developments be used to get the best possible data. We’ll discuss the new additions, their strengths and weaknesses, and users will give examples of how they get the most of their beamtime.
The meeting will focus on the technical/methodological aspect of the research/developments going on at the MX beamlines. It will allow us to communicate current plans and projects, and get feed-back from our user community. We will encourage everybody attending to bring a poster. Ultimately this event is about communicating with the user community.
Workshop contact: Thomas Sorensen