Mathematical and Theoretical Crystallography - X-El 2006 - CCDC Workshop - QIAGEN workshop - Il Milione Demo Session - Mosquito User Group Meeting - Satellite Workshop on Rational Protein Crystallization

Satellite Conference on
Mathematical and Theoretical Crystallography
Leuven | Friday 4 August until Sunday 6 August 2006

Organized by the
Commission on Mathematical and Theoretical Crystallography
of the International Union of Crystallography

Supported by the
Commission on Inorganic and Mineral Structures
of the International Union of Crystallography
and by the
Special Interest Group No. 5 "Mineralogical Crystallography"
of the European Crystallographc Association

For more information visit the Satellite Conference website

or send a mail to: mathcryst.satellite@lcm3b.uhp-nancy.fr

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X-El 2006
A joint school on structure determination by X-ray Powder Diffraction & Electron Crystallography
Antwerp | Tuesday 1 until Friday 4 August 2006

Organized by
EMAT - University of Antwerp

An initiative of the
Special Interest Group on Electron Crystallography of the European Crystallographic Association And with the support of Special Interest Group on Powder Diffraction of the European Crystallographic Association

For more information visit the Satellite Conference website

or send a mail to: joke.hadermann@ua.ac.be

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CCDC Workshop "Making better use of the Cambridge Structural Database"
Leuven | Sunday 6 August 2006 | 1 PM - 4 PM
(sandwich lunch included and preceding workshop)

Organized by
Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC)

The Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) System is a unique resource used widely both in academia and industry in the fields of structural chemistry, crystallography, and in the rational design of drugs and materials. As the definitive library of experimentally determined structures the CSD contains a wealth of information on molecular geometry, intermolecular interactions and crystal packing.
This workshop will provide attendees with "hands-on" training and will demonstrate how the CSD can be utilised in a wide variety of research applications.

Registration: To obtain further information, and to register for the workshop please contact admin@ccdc.cam.ac.uk

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QIAGEN products for protein crystallization: Fast Forward to the third Dimension
August 7 l 12h00 - 14h00

Organised by
QIAGEN Benelux, Belgium

Speaker: Jean-Pascal Viola, QIAGEN
Analysis of a protein's three-dimensional structure is essential to understanding its function. Until now, identifying the chemical conditions that lead to highly-diffracting protein crystals has been a tedious, time-consuming, hit-and-miss process. Please come and join us to learn more about the EasyXtal and NeXtal protein crystallography product range. We will introduce you to new prescreening and optimization products which will help you obtain quality, reproducible crystals, and EasyXpress — a cell-free expression system for synthesizing proteins used in structural analysis.

For more information, visit us at www.qiagen.com.
To register please send us an email to events@qiagen.com.

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Il Milione, demo session
August 7 l 15h30 - 17h00 &
August 8 l 15h30 - 17h00

Organised by
The Institute of Crystallography, Bari Italy

IL MILIONE is a suite of computer programs devoted to protein crystal structure determination by X-ray crystallography. It may be used in the following key activities: ab initio phasing , via Patterson or Direct Methods; SIR-MIR, SAD-MAD, SIRAS-MIRAS techniques; and Molecular Replacement via reciprocal space methods. All the programs integrated into IL MILIONE are controlled by means of a user-friendly GUI, which is used to provide input data and to monitor intermediate and final results by means of real time updated messages, diagrams and histograms. It is possible to run IL MILIONE on Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac OS X. Several examples will be approached to demonstrate the power of the suite.

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Mosquito User Group Meeting
August 8 l 12h00 - 14h00

Organised by
Molecular Dimensions Ltd., Soham, Cambridgeshire, UK

An opportunity for existing mosquito users share experiences with one another and learn methods of optimising perfomance from the manufacturer in an open and relaxed forum. This meeting also offers people who are considering nanolitre dispensing robots to come and learn about mosquito from real users. There will be two user presentations, a presentation by the manufaturer and an extensive Q&A session to finish.

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Satellite Workshop on Rational Protein Crystallization
August 9 l 12h00 - 14h00

Organized by
The Laboratory of Molecular Biotechnology of the RWTH-Aachen University and the Fraunhofer Institute of Laser Technology (Aachen, Germany)

Contributions by Prof. Naomi Chayen (Imperial College, UK) and Mike Glazer (Oxford University, UK)

Crystallization remains a significant bottleneck in the determination of protein structures by x-ray crystallography. Suitable crystallization conditions are still sought by trial and error using empirical approaches. Furthermore, experiments are generally evaluated by humans or through the use of automated image analysis, urging for some kind of information, e.g. in the form of precipitates. There is currently no screening system that allows clear and precipitated droplets to be analyzed using objective quantitative measurements.
We will present an instrument that can detect protein/protein interactions via static light scattering and size distributions via dynamic light scattering within a clear crystallization droplet (<500 nl). In the case of non-clear drops, the instrument can perform quantitative birefringence analysis to detect microcrystalline material or to ascertain the quality of protein crystals.
The application of these methods during a screening process was made possible by the development of a novel crystallization method in conjunction with the development of a specially designed microplate.
The main goal of the workshop is to present the novel approach in detail to interested scientist and to discuss current needs and future developments within the area of rational protein crystallization.

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