Protein Cryocrystallography Using Laser-Processed Crystal

We propose a new procedure in biological cryocrystallography, using the laser-ablation technique. This is the first report on the successful processing of cryo-cooled crystals to create a “protein crystal ball” that is conducive to X-ray diffraction (XRD) data collection. Pulsed UV laser soft ablation (PULSA) modifies protein crystals into a spherical shape and removes surrounding materials, but does not negatively affect crystallinity and may improve diffraction data quality. Additionally, we demonstrate treatment of problematic samples to make them serviceable for XRD analysis. Isolation of single crystals can be performed after flash cooling with the PULSA technique.