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Max-Planck Institute of Biophysics chooses Rigaku X-ray crystallographic and crystallization equipment

The Woodlands, TX — January 21, 2008.  Rigaku Americas Corporation is pleased to announce that the Max-Planck Institute of Biophysics (Frankfurt, Germany) has chosen to update their X-ray crystallography facility with the most advanced Rigaku protein crystallography and automated crystallization systems. The new equipment includes the world's brightest X-ray source, the Rigaku FR-E+ SuperBright™ equipped with VariMax™ HF optic, the recently introduced Rigaku Saturn 944+ CCD detector, and the advanced Rigaku CrystalMation™ automated crystallization system.

Upgrading and expanding the X-ray crystallography facility at the Max-Planck Institute of Biophysics was part of an initiative by ESFRI-INSTRUCT (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures - Integrated Structural Biology Infrastructure) to elevate the Max-Planck Institute of Biophysics to be one of the seven core European centers for structural biology. Prof. Hartmut Michel, winner of Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1988, was chosen to lead the project. For the preparatory phase the BMBF (German Ministry of Education and Research) has funded the effort, with the majority of the funds being invested to improve the X-ray crystallographic equipment at the institute.

Commenting on the new acquisition, Dr. Juergen Koepke, Staff Scientist at the Max-Plank Institute of Biophysics, said "First, we decided to replace two 19 years old Rigaku RU200 X-ray sources with a new powerful, state of the art X-ray generator with optics and a CCD detector. Second, a fully automatic crystallization system was required that would be able to prepare 96 well crystallization plates with a pre-selected screen, store them at a chosen temperature, and image the wells on a regular basis."

Dr. Koepke continued, noting that "We chose a complete Rigaku system including an FR-E+ X-ray generator with the latest VariMax-HF optic and a Saturn 944+ CCD detector to obtain the highest available brilliance and detector performance. The only worldwide available fully automatic crystallization system was the CrystalMation system from Rigaku. So we decided to start with a system that supports two Gallery 700 incubators, but with an Integration Module prepared to accept at least one additional Rigaku Minstrel HT/Gallery 700 combination. At the moment, we are investigating the possibility of adding a new room to the building, dedicated to the CrystalMation system, so as to be able to setup an Integration Module long enough to serve six incubators.

"It has turned out, that a high flexibility in temperature is required to optimize the crystallization conditions of protein complexes, especially for membrane proteins. Therefore the installed incubators will be set to such different temperatures, that high X-ray quality macromolecular crystals can be obtained with the new system. To avoid frequent trips to the synchrotron, the in-house X-ray power will be high enough, with the new Rigaku FR-E+ and an already available Rigaku MicroMax-007 HF X-ray generator, to do both the screening and full data collection of crystals directly at our MPI facility. The preparation phase for the core center will be finished at the end of 2008 or in early 2009. After that initial phase the core center will provide the facilities also to European access groups."

For further information, on the Max-Planck Institute of Biophysics and the core center, please contact:

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Since its inception in Japan in 1951, Rigaku has been at the forefront of analytical and industrial instrumentation technology. Rigaku and its subsidiaries form a global group focused on life sciences and general purpose analytical instrumentation. With hundreds of major innovations to its credit, Rigaku and its subsidiary companies are world leaders in the fields of small molecule and protein crystallography, X-ray spectrometry and diffraction, X-ray optics, as well as semiconductor metrology. Rigaku employs over 1,100 people in the manufacture and support of its analytical equipment. Its products are in use in more than 70 countries—supporting research, development, and quality assurance activities. Throughout the world, Rigaku continuously promotes partnerships, dialog, and innovation within the global scientific and industrial community.

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