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Ekeberg T, Assalauova D, Bielecki J, Boll R, Daurer BJ, Eichacker LA, Franken LE, Galli DE, Gelisio L, Gumprecht L, Gunn LH, Hajdu J, Hartmann R, Hasse D, Ignatenko A, Koliyadu J, Kulyk O, Kurta R, Kuster M, Lugmayr W, Lübke J, Mancuso AP, Mazza T, Nettelblad C, Ovcharenko Y, Rivas DE, Rose M, Samanta AK, Schmidt P, Sobolev E, Timneanu N, Usenko S, Westphal D, Wollweber T, Worbs L, Xavier PL, Yousef H, Ayyer K, Chapman HN, Sellberg JA, Seuring C, Vartanyants IA, Küpper J, Meyer M, Maia FRNC. Observation of a single protein by ultrafast X-ray diffraction. LIGHT, SCIENCE & APPLICATIONS 2024; 13:15. [PMID: 38216563 PMCID: PMC10786860 DOI: 10.1038/s41377-023-01352-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/14/2024]
Abstract
The idea of using ultrashort X-ray pulses to obtain images of single proteins frozen in time has fascinated and inspired many. It was one of the arguments for building X-ray free-electron lasers. According to theory, the extremely intense pulses provide sufficient signal to dispense with using crystals as an amplifier, and the ultrashort pulse duration permits capturing the diffraction data before the sample inevitably explodes. This was first demonstrated on biological samples a decade ago on the giant mimivirus. Since then, a large collaboration has been pushing the limit of the smallest sample that can be imaged. The ability to capture snapshots on the timescale of atomic vibrations, while keeping the sample at room temperature, may allow probing the entire conformational phase space of macromolecules. Here we show the first observation of an X-ray diffraction pattern from a single protein, that of Escherichia coli GroEL which at 14 nm in diameter is the smallest biological sample ever imaged by X-rays, and demonstrate that the concept of diffraction before destruction extends to single proteins. From the pattern, it is possible to determine the approximate orientation of the protein. Our experiment demonstrates the feasibility of ultrafast imaging of single proteins, opening the way to single-molecule time-resolved studies on the femtosecond timescale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomas Ekeberg
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-75124, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Dameli Assalauova
- Deutsches Electronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | | | - Rebecca Boll
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Benedikt J Daurer
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science & Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
| | - Lutz A Eichacker
- University of Stavanger, Centre Organelle Research, Richard-Johnsensgate 4, 4021, Stavanger, Norway
| | - Linda E Franken
- Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology (HPI), Centre for Structural Systems Biology, Notkestraße 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Davide E Galli
- Dipartimento di Fisica "Aldo Pontremoli", Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 16, 20133, Milano, Italy
| | - Luca Gelisio
- Deutsches Electronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Lars Gumprecht
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Laura H Gunn
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-75124, Uppsala, Sweden
- Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
| | - Janos Hajdu
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-75124, Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | - Dirk Hasse
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-75124, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Alexandr Ignatenko
- Deutsches Electronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jayanath Koliyadu
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
- Biomedical and X-Ray Physics, Department of Applied Physics, AlbaNova University Center, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Olena Kulyk
- ELI Beamlines/IoP Institute of Physics AS CR, v.v.i., Na Slovance 2, 182 21, Prague 8, Czech Republic
| | - Ruslan Kurta
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Markus Kuster
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Lugmayr
- Multi-User CryoEM Facility, Centre for Structural Systems Biology, Notkestr.85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistrasse 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jannik Lübke
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- The Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Physics, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Adrian P Mancuso
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, 3086, Australia
| | - Tommaso Mazza
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Carl Nettelblad
- Division of Scientific Computing, Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Information Technology, Uppsala University, Box 337, SE-75105, Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | | | - Max Rose
- Deutsches Electronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Amit K Samanta
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | | | - Egor Sobolev
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, c/o DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Nicusor Timneanu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-75120, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sergey Usenko
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Daniel Westphal
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-75124, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Tamme Wollweber
- The Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Physics, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Lena Worbs
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Physics, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Paul Lourdu Xavier
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Hazem Yousef
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Kartik Ayyer
- The Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Henry N Chapman
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- The Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Physics, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jonas A Sellberg
- Biomedical and X-Ray Physics, Department of Applied Physics, AlbaNova University Center, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Carolin Seuring
- Multi-User CryoEM Facility, Centre for Structural Systems Biology, Notkestr.85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Chemistry, Universität Hamburg, 20146, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Ivan A Vartanyants
- Deutsches Electronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jochen Küpper
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
- The Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Physics, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Michael Meyer
- European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869, Schenefeld, Germany
| | - Filipe R N C Maia
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-75124, Uppsala, Sweden.
- NERSC, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
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