Vasireddi Ramakrishna, Gardais Antonin, Chavas Leonard M G
Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'Orme des Merisier, Saint-Aubin, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
Department of Applied Physics, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan.
Micromachines (Basel). 2022 Aug 22;13(8):1365. doi: 10.3390/mi13081365.
Cyclic-olefin-copolymer (COC)-based microfluidic devices are increasingly becoming the center of highly valuable research for in situ X-ray measurements due to their compatibility with X-rays, biological compounds, chemical resistance, optical properties, low cost, and simplified handling. COC microfluidic devices present potential solutions to challenging biological applications such as protein binding, folding, nucleation, growth kinetics, and structural changes. In recent years, the techniques applied to manufacturing and handling these devices have capitalized on enormous progress toward small-scale sample probing. Here, we describe the new and innovative design aspects, fabrication, and experimental implementation of low-cost and micron-sized X-ray-compatible microfluidic sample environments that address diffusion-based crystal formation for crystallographic characterization. The devices appear fully compatible with crystal growth and subsequent X-ray diffraction experiments, resulting in remarkably low background data recording. The results highlighted in this research demonstrate how the engineered microfluidic devices allow the recording of accurate crystallographic data at room temperature and structure determination at high resolution.
基于环烯烃共聚物（COC）的微流控装置因其与X射线的兼容性、生物化合物兼容性、耐化学性、光学特性、低成本以及操作简便等特点，正日益成为原位X射线测量领域高价值研究的核心。COC微流控装置为蛋白质结合、折叠、成核、生长动力学和结构变化等具有挑战性的生物学应用提供了潜在解决方案。近年来，应用于制造和处理这些装置的技术利用了在小规模样品探测方面取得的巨大进展。在此，我们描述了低成本且微米级的与X射线兼容的微流控样品环境的新颖创新设计方面、制造方法及实验实施情况，该环境可解决基于扩散的晶体形成问题以用于晶体学表征。这些装置似乎与晶体生长及后续的X射线衍射实验完全兼容，从而实现了极低的背景数据记录。本研究中突出的结果表明，经过设计的微流控装置如何能够在室温下记录准确的晶体学数据，并在高分辨率下进行结构测定。
