|
|
Newsletter Volume 2, No. 3, Fall 2004 | |||||
|
In This Issue |
|
|||||
 |
A word from our president |
So far in life, my three favorite
occupations have been: rock and roll drummer, scientific programmer,
and waiter. I retired from drumming at the age of 18, waiting tables
at the age of 21 and programming at the age of 40 (ironically, when I
went to work for a real software company).
As a fluke, I took a FORTRAN class as an undergraduate and found it to be the most beneficial class later as a graduate student in chemistry. In those days, studying the field of crystallography required constant modification of the computer programs involved in processing data and solving structures. Constantly evolving computer hardware, operating systems, and methodologies meant that a crystallographer spent a good percentage of time as an amateur programmer. Rigaku (nee Molecular Structure Corp.) has always been active in software development in the field of crystallography. Starting in 1973, some of the software packages that have been started here include: the SDP package (originally marketed by Enraf-Nonius), TEXSAN, AUTO_MODE, teXsan, d*TREK®, AreaMax, CrystalClear™, and CrystalStructure™, to name a few. It has always been the philosophy of Rigaku that first class instrumentation is not enough - our customers require excellent software to extract the best possible information from our hardware. On September 30, 2004, Rigaku acquired Molecular Images (MI), a software company founded by Dr. Duncan McRee and located in San Diego. Existing software operations at Rigaku's headquarters in The Woodlands and at the SSI software division in Utah will be folded into the new division, which will continue to operate as Molecular Images. The acquisition of Molecular Images brings a number of existing software products to Rigaku as well as an active consortium that was setup to further the development of the next generation software for protein crystallography and molecular modeling. The acquisition of MI and the combination of it with our existing software groups is a clear indication of our intention to make software a strong component of our future. In recent years we have invested heavily in new software projects, including the exciting new area of crystal mounting automation. Now we will accelerate these efforts with the additional capabilities that Molecular Images will bring to the company. Paul N. Swepston |
||||
|
|
Newsletter frequency | |||||
|
|
Introducing: MicroMax™-007 HF | |||||
|
|
Rigaku Molecular Metrology | |||||
|
|
Molecular Images | |||||
|
|
ActiveSight™ announces first deal, portfolio protein | |||||
|
|
Compact HomeLab: Customer testimonial | |||||
|
|
Cr phasing news | |||||
|
|
Introducing: AGENT | |||||
|
|
Introducing: R-AXIS SPIDER | |||||
|
|
New specialists named | |||||
|
Visit us on the web at www.rigaku.com |
||||||
| MicroMax™-007 HF | ||||||
| Rigaku announces the MicroMax-007 HF (high flux), the next generation in microfocus rotating anode X-ray generators. The MicroMax-007 HF affords a 70 x 70 μm focal spot on the anode and generates 50% greater power than the industry standard MicroMax-007. By increasing the anode rotation speed from 6000 rpm to 9000 rpm, together with several patented design improvements, the MicroMax-007 HF provides substantially more flux at the crystal. |
|
|||||
|
Calendar of Events |
Rigaku Molecular Metrology | |||||
Rigaku will be attending the following
conferences in the fall of 2004:
|
The Rigaku Group is pleased to announce the acquisition of Molecular Metrology, Inc. (Northampton, MA). Molecular Metrology is an established leader in the design and manufacture of Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) and Ultra-Small Angle X-ray Scattering (USAXS) for nano-structure determination in materials science and proteins. The systems combine the MolMet 2D multiwire detector and the Rigaku high flux sources for a high brilliance, low noise tool for the most demanding applications.
| |||||
| ActiveSight™ announces first deal, portfolio protein | ||||||
|
Rigaku, Inc. announces the purchase of Molecular Images, a software company dedicated to the development of molecular graphics packages and data analysis systems for macromolecular crystallographic structure determination. The new division will now lead Rigaku's development of integrated and automated crystallographic software spanning the entire range from data collection through structure solution. Existing software operations in The Woodlands, and at the SSI software division, will be folded into the new division - which will continue to operate as Molecular Images. Based in San Diego, CA, and sharing facilities with Rigaku's ActiveSight division, the new organization will be headed by Dr. Russ Athay, President. Company founder, Dr. Duncan McRee will serve in the role of Chief Science Officer. As core products, distribution of the popular XtalView package, as well the new MI-fit software, will continue. In addition, the Molecular Images Consortium has been expanded to become the Automatic Structure Consortium and is currently adding new members. |
ActiveSight, Rigaku's structural biology service company, announced its
first contract, providing co-crystallization service to Celgene on a human
protein target. In the press release, Duncan McRee, President, stated,
"ActiveSight is delighted to have Celgene Corporation as a client. We
look forward to contributing to their impressive drug discovery
effort."
ActiveSight also announced the availability of their first Portfolio Protein, the N-terminal fragment of Hsp90, a cancer target. ActiveSight has started the Portfolio Protein program in order to offer pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies rapid access to proteins of interest. Researchers can send their compounds to ActiveSight for fast turn-around on structural information. ActiveSight plans to add proteins aggressively to the portfolio over the coming months. ActiveSight's contract services are centered on lead optimization co-crystallography. Inquiries are welcome: email info@rigaku.com or call Joy Silen at (858) 455-6870 x105. |
Structure of the amino-terminal domain of human Hsp90 with the inhibitor radicicol bound to the active site. This 1.74 Angstrom structure was determined by Dr. Les Tari at ActiveSight using the Rigaku FR-E Superbright. | ||||
| Selenomethionine derivative structure solved with Cr radiation | ||||||
|
"I was very pleased to find that our MicroMax-002/R-AXIS IV++ combination routinely gives data that extend to 1.45 to 1.7 Å resolution at -160°. We were also pleased to find that our setup can collect excellent data from small crystals. We were able to collect high quality data [on a 0.05 x 0.07 x 0.10 mm crystal] as the background levels for the MicroMax-002 were remarkably low, yielding a high signal to noise." Dr. Steven V. Evans |
 B.C. Wang et al. recently solved the
crystal structure of CHORISMATE MUTASE from CLOSTRIDIUM THERMOCELLUM,
CTH-682 (PDB 1XHO). The structure was determined using Se-SAD with Cr Kα
radiation. CHORISMATE MUTASE has 3 monomers in the asymmetric unit, with
each monomer consisting of 148 residues including 8 selenomethionines.
Crystals of selenium-derivatized proteins are generally more suitable for SAD phasing due to the higher anomalous scattering (Δf"= 2.28 e-) compared to that of sulfur atoms (Δf"= 1.14 e-). The calculated Bijvoet ratio of CTH-682 is ~3.5% at Cr Ka wavelength, which is far higher than theoretical limit for SAD phasing (0.6%). Data was collected up to 2.2 Å with about 9-fold redundancy. The program SOLVE/RESOLVE was employed to find the Se sites, and perform phasing and auto-tracing of the structure. Tracing and refinement were finished within 3 hrs without any human-intervention. The electron density map is shown above. The significance of this work is the demonstration of the synergy in using selenomethionine derivatized proteins with longer wavelength radiation (Cr Kα, λ = 2.29 Å) and an automated structure pipeline to improve the output of novel macromolecular structures. |
|||||
|
Training Sessions |
AGENT™ | |||||
|
A significant extension of the renowned ACTOR™ system, the world's first commercial robotic system for automated sample handling of frozen crystals, the new AGENT is designed to support both ports of a rotating anode generator with an intelligent software platform for crystal screening, automated crystal scoring, and subsequent high-resolution data collection for macromolecular structure solution. It is available as a new stand-alone system or as an upgrade for existing ACTOR customers. AGENT allows your ACTOR to do more work. |
|
||||
| R-AXIS SPIDER | ||||||
| Rigaku sponsored and participated in the ACS/PRF Crystallography School for Organic Chemists held at the University of California at San Diego from Aug. 2-13. Rigaku loaned an R-AXIS RAPID IP detector to the school to augment the CCD detectors in use at the UCSD chemistry department. Lee Daniels, Small-Molecule Product Manager, was an instructor at the school and trained users on the use of the RAPID and the CrystalClear and CrystalStructure software packages. The 25 students were chosen from a pool of over 100 applicants, many of whom were unfamiliar with the methods of X-ray crystallography. Over 60 new organic crystal structures were solved during the school, and, as part of the training, most of these were prepared for publication. |
R-AXIS SPIDER is the newest entry in the
popular R-AXIS RAPID family of detector systems. With a 2θ range of -60°
to +144° from a single detector setting, a radiation-independent storage
phosphor, and a variety of optional X-ray sources, the R-AXIS SPIDER is a
compact area detector so versatile that it can replace several instruments
without compromising the quality of your results.
The R-AXIS SPIDER is equipped with a single curved imaging plate (IP), the detector of choice in the protein field for the past decade. IPs have numerous advantages over other types of X-ray detectors, the two most obvious being large active area and wide dynamic range. |
|
||||
|
Subscriber Info |
New specialists named | |||||
|
To subscribe to this newsletter, fill out the
registration form.
To cancel your subscription, e-mail the webmaster. |
Rigaku's service department is pleased to announce that Mike Noonan has been named our new in-house ACTOR specialist. You will see him on all new ACTOR installs and he will perform field training during the installation. This new specialty is in addition to his current responsibilities as product specialist for the MicroMax-002 generator. He is also the Assistant Service Manager for single crystal X-ray diffraction products. Tim Ayers has been named our in-house RoboDesign® product specialist. Tim will be involved with all installations and perform training for field personnel during the installations. This new responsibility is in addition to his work with single crystal X-ray diffraction service and installation. |
|||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
North America: |
Europe: |
||||
|
9009 New Trails Drive The Woodlands Texas USA 77381-5209 email: info@rigaku.com Tel: (281) 363-1033 FAX: (281) 364-3628 |
Unit B6, Chaucer Business Park Watery Lane, Kemsing Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 6QY, England email: info@rigaku.com Tel: [44] 1732 763 367 FAX: [44] 1732 763 757 |
|||||
