Shock Damage Analysis in Serial Femtosecond Crystallography Data Collected at MHz X-ray Free-Electron Lasers

• DOI: 10.3390/cryst10121145
• Publication Date: 2020-12-17T03:12:06Z
• Authors: Alexander Gorel; Marie Grünbein; Richard Bean; Johan Bielecki; Mario Hilpert; Michele Cascella; Jacques-Philippe ...; Hans Fangohr; Lutz Foucar; Elisabeth Hartmann; Mark Hunter; Henry Kirkwood; Marco Kloos; Romain Letrun; Thomas Michelat; Robert Shoeman; Jolanta Sztuk-Dam...; Guillaume Tetreau; Herbert Zimmermann; Adrian Mancuso; Thomas Barends; R. Doak; Claudiu Stan; Ilme Schlichting
• Keywords: MESH: serial femtosecond crystallography; 0301 basic medicine; Technology; serial femtosecond crystallography; Science & Technology; Multidisciplinary; shock wave; Crystallography; [SDV.BBM.BS]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biochemistry, Molecular Biology/Structural Biology [q-bio.BM]; Molecular Biology/Structural Biology [q-bio.BM]; Materials Science; 610; 500; MESH: shock wave; [SDV.BBM.BS]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biochemistry; 03 medical and health sciences; QD901-999; protein crystallography; Physical Sciences; X-ray free-electron laser; MESH: X-ray free-electron laser; MESH: protein crystallography; Uncategorized

Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) data were recorded at the European X-ray free-electron laser facility (EuXFEL) with protein microcrystals delivered via a microscopic liquid jet. An XFEL beam striking such jet may launch supersonic shock waves up jet, compromising oncoming sample. To investigate this efficiently, we employed novel pulse pattern to nominally expose sample between zero and four before being probed. Analyzing hit rate, indexing resolution for diffraction MHz rates, found no evidence of damage. Notably, however, conclusion could only be drawn after careful identification assimilation numerous interrelated experimental factors, which describe in detail. Failure do so would have led an erroneous conclusion. Femtosecond photography sample-carrying revealed critically different behavior from that all homogeneous jets studied date manner.