The IASTED International
Conference
on
Nanotechnology and Applications
~NANA 2008~
September 29 – October 1, 2008
Crete, Greece
PANEL SESSION
Protein Nanocrystallography
Abstract
With recent fast progress in macromolecular crystallography and synchrotron radiation, it is clear that X-ray crystallography will remain the most important structure determination method for the foreseeable future. But progress in the area of structural proteomics is limited: by (1) crystal production and (2) the quality of collected diffraction data, which is greatly influenced by X-ray radiation damage. The first problem may be solved by high throughoutput crystallization robotic systems, which allow full automation of large-scale crystallization experiments. However, still in many cases, protein crystallization remains the bottleneck to protein structure determination. On the other hand, the radiation damage problems instead appear more critical with the progress of high energy X-ray sources. The novel methods of crystallization, protection from radiation damage, and crystal quality improvement should come to the forefront. Can nanotechnology offer the solutions for these problems? Protein nanocrystallography could be the "right method at the right time."
Panelists
Panelists TBA
Several examples of questions or issues that will be addressed by the panel:
- The future trends in protein crystallography – going to nano-level
- Nanobeam – successful data collection from the smallest crystals
- Advantages of a Nanotemplate for protein crystal growth
- Radiation Damage – solutions for high energy sources
- High troughoutput crystallization in nanodroplets – different kinetics, microcrystal detection, and handling
Biography of the Presenter
Eugenia Pechkova, born in Moscow, Russia, 24 May 1976, received her Doctoral degree in Chemistry from Moscow State University in 1998. She received her PhD in Biophysics from the University of Genova in 2003. Dr. Pechkova currently lives and works in Italy, where she is the Protein Nanocrystallography Team Leader at the Nanoworld Institute in Genova, and the Scientific Director of Fondazione EL.B.A. in Rome.
Dr. Pechkova has authored the book Proteomics and Nanocrystallography as well as numerous papers in worldwide scientific journals and chapters in several books. She also edited a special issue of the Journal of Synchrotron Radiation called "Synchrotron Radiation and Nanobiosciences." Her achievements include the development of a protein crystallization method based on nanotechnology. Her main research interests are in the fields of biophysics and nanocrystallography.
