Re: [ccp4bb] sticky crystals

2009-01-28 Thread Jeff Speir
I second Chris's suggestions. These have worked well for me in the past. You only need a very thin layer of the grease (i.e. keep wiping until its almost completely gone) and it usually has no affect on the crystallization. Jeff On Jan 27, 2009, at 3:51 PM, Christopher Colbert wrote:

Re: [ccp4bb] sticky crystals

2009-01-28 Thread Christian Biertuempfel
Hi Savvas, If the very good suggestions you have already got from the ccp4bb do not help, try crystallization with agarose as an additive. Crystals form inside the very soft gel and they are hold in place by this meshwork. So, they are mechanically protected and do not fall down onto the bottom of

Re: [ccp4bb] sticky crystals

2009-01-27 Thread mesters
Most obvious (maybe you did it already but that is not clear from your email), why not try seeding? - J. - Savvas Savvides wrote: Dear colleagues, we have been growing crystals of a protein complex in sitting-drop geometry that stick to the bottom of the drop remarkably well. It’s as if t

Re: [ccp4bb] sticky crystals

2009-01-27 Thread raz
Hi All One more method that I heard about but never tried is to put the plate on a sonication bath and to let for a short sonication pulse. That should vibrate some liquid under your crystal. Raz -- Raz Zarivach, Ph.D. Department of Life

Re: [ccp4bb] sticky crystals

2009-01-27 Thread Jean-Luc Ferrer
Hi Savvas, You can collect data on your crystal still in the drop, on our beamline (FIP-BM30A at the ESRF) if you are interested. Provided space group is not P1 We do that routinely. Let me know if you are interested. JL Savvas Savvides wrote: Dear colleagues, we have b

Re: [ccp4bb] sticky crystals

2009-01-27 Thread deliang
Hi, I had a similar story like yours.Then I added a drop of 10ul simulated mother liquot which contains much higher concentrations of all components in the normal mother liquot. Sometimes, the crystals attached to the plastic would float to the surface. If not, take another 10ul, but blew it

Re: [ccp4bb] sticky crystals

2009-01-27 Thread James Holton
Suggestions so far have been good ones. However, the MiTeGen microtools kit: http://mitegen.com/products/microtools/microtools_kit1.shtml comes with a "MicroSaw", which is a 10-micron thick kapton saw that is intended for this purpose. That is, you don't pry the crystal off the surface, but rat

Re: [ccp4bb] sticky crystals

2009-01-27 Thread Christopher Colbert
If you have good and bad crystals in the same drop, I've had success pushing a crummy crystal into a good crystal and having it release that way. Additionally, once I realized this was going to be a long term problem, I started coating the sitting drop depressions with a thin layer of vacuum g

Re: [ccp4bb] sticky crystals

2009-01-27 Thread Artem Evdokimov
Hi, I had this exact problem before. The method below worked for me: Take a sturdy needle (like one of the microneedles from a Hampton kit or a very thin syringe needle) and (while observing the whole thing under a scope) stick the needle into the plastic a bit away from the crystal. Push h

Re: [ccp4bb] sticky crystals

2009-01-27 Thread Jim Pflugrath
Put a small piece of dry ice on the opposite side of the plastic from the crystal. Perhaps the difference in thermal expansive coefficient will let the crystal(s) break away. Don't overdo it though. This is a trick that Gary Gilliland taught me. Jim On Wed, 28 Jan 2009, Savvas Savvides wro