X-ray Macromolecular Crystallography Detector Upgrade for Structural Biology Facility

About This Grant

Project Summary The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) requests funds to purchase a Rigaku HyPix-Arc 100° Curved Hybrid Photon Counting (HPC) Detector to provide state-of-the-art crystallographic X-ray diffraction data collection for the three-dimensional solution of medically important biological macromolecules and their complexes. This instrument for macromolecular crystallography is not currently available at UNMC, any nearby university or in the region. The HyPix-Arc 100° is a unique, curved detector using HPC technology. To provide the best data quality it is essential to measure accurate data with minimal correction. With a curved detector arrangement, diffracted beams arrive at the detector as close to perpendicular to the surface as possible. This prevents unwanted reflection enlargement and minimizes the associated corrections. Additionally, the curvature allows the detector to see a higher theta range than larger flat detectors. This means more reflections collected at the same time under the same conditions for truer measurement with better scaling and data quality whilst also increasing measurement speed for sensitive or unstable samples. This instrument will dramatically improve the quality of X-ray diffraction data we collect to solve crystal structures for basic science and drug development projects. The proposed project is viable because of strong investigator support illustrated by the 15 NIH- funded researchers and their projects on nucleosome assembly, ribonucleoproteins, enzyme catalysis, redox biology, cancer therapeutics, neurodegenerative and infectious disease. Participating investigators are from several departments at UNMC, as well as nearby institutions, such as the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Creighton University. Each project will benefit directly from the use of the HyPix-Arc 100° detector: enabling sophisticated experiments and expediting progress on NIH-funded science. These projects enjoy strong technical support in the Eppley Structural Biology Facility (ESBF) that includes well-experienced staff that have worked together with the director for over 23 years promoting all aspects of structural biology research in Nebraska and surrounding states. The proposal also has strong institutional support as evidenced by salary and service agreement support by the Vice Chancellor for Research (Dr. Bayles) and the Director of the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer (Dr. Sweasy). The detector will be housed in the ESBF and installed on the right port of our Rigaku FRE+ ultrahigh-intensity rotating anode X-ray generator. The ESBF is the only structural biology facility in the region and gives easy access for data collection to all interested researchers. The combination of strong user interest, significant research projects, technical expertise, administrative experience, and a solid long-term plan will ensure successful implementation and extensive use of the HyPix-Arc 100° detector.