Blakeley Matthew P, Langan Paul, Niimura Nobuo, Podjarny Alberto
ILL, 6 Rue Jules Horowitz, BP 156, 38042 Grenoble, France.
Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2008 Oct;18(5):593-600. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2008.06.009. Epub 2008 Aug 7.
Neutron crystallography has had an important, but relatively small role in structural biology over the years. In this review of recently determined neutron structures, a theme emerges of a field currently expanding beyond its traditional boundaries, to address larger and more complex problems, with smaller samples and shorter data collection times, and employing more sophisticated structure determination and refinement methods. The origin of this transformation can be found in a number of advances including first, the development of neutron image-plates and quasi-Laue methods at nuclear reactor neutron sources and the development of time-of-flight Laue methods and electronic detectors at spallation neutron sources; second, new facilities and methods for sample perdeuteration and crystallization; third, new approaches and computational tools for structure determination.
多年来，中子晶体学在结构生物学中发挥了重要但相对较小的作用。在这篇对近期确定的中子结构的综述中，一个主题浮现出来，即该领域目前正在超越其传统边界进行拓展，以解决更大、更复杂的问题，使用更小的样本和更短的数据收集时间，并采用更复杂的结构确定和精修方法。这种转变的起源可以追溯到一些进展，首先是核反应堆中子源处中子成像板和准劳厄方法的发展，以及散裂中子源处飞行时间劳厄方法和电子探测器的发展；其次是用于样品全氘代和结晶的新设施和方法；第三是结构确定的新方法和计算工具。
