Core Facilities Workshop: XRF Boot Camp

Protein Crystallization and X-Ray Diffraction (pcxrd) Boot Camp

Protein crystallization and X-Ray diffraction (PCXRD) Boot Camp is a precursor to macromolecular structure determination technique. In this course, we will cover basic concepts of crystals, symmetry, manual and robotic crystal set-up, crystal imaging, crystallization, x-ray generation, radiation safety, x-ray diffraction, cryo safety, cryogenic technique, data collection and processing, data visualization, and model building. More emphasis will be given to hands-on training and lab work than the full-fledged graduate course.

General Schedule of the Boot Camp

• The last XRF Boot Camp was in Aug 2023; the next XRF Boot Camp will be in Aug 2024 
• Duration of the program: ~ 3 weeks | 4-h/day for 3 days a week | Number of days for lectures: 4 | Number of days for experiments: 6
• Provides experience in the wet lab (biochemistry), instrumentation (crystallization and crystallography), and computation (data processing and visualization)

General Syllabus of the Boot Camp

Sessions high-lighted in bold will involve more hands-on training time and sessions high-lighted in italics will involve more lecture time.

• 1. Symmetry, lattices, and unit cell, 2. Crystals and protein crystallization set-up
• 3. Crystallization observation and optimization,  4. X-Rays, radiation safety and X-Ray generation
• 5. Cryogenics safety and cryo crystallography, 6. X-Ray Diffraction set-up and data collection
• 7. Data processing and analysis 8. Molecular graphics and data visualization

Resources (Protocols and Procedures) for the Boot Camp

Printed XRF Boot Camp procedures will be distributed to those attending the course.

• Module 1+2 Protein Crystallization  |  Module 3+4 Cryo Crystallography
• Module 5+6 Instrumentation and Data Collection  | Module 7+8 Data Analysis and Visualization
• Crystal Scoring Sheet Fillable PDF (Form)  |  Crystal Scoring Reference Sheet