Products: MicroMesh™ Mounts
MicroMesh™ Mounts are the tool of choice for microcrystal crystallography and diffraction experiments, especially at microfocus beamlines. They have been used in de novo protein structure determination from crystals as small as 5 μm.
They are excellent for rod shaped crystals, and in particular are superior to mounts with elliptical apertures, because the mesh provides continuous, gentle support for rods of all sizes.
MicroMeshes produce the smallest background scatter of any commercial mount. Their sieve-like action allows easy retrieval of sub-30 μm crystals.
We now offer five different size MicroMeshes. All are 10 μm thick and are curved around the same nonmagnetic stainless steel pins we use for MicroMounts, producing the same scoop-like action.
The first three have a 400 μm mesh area with openings of 10, 25 and 50 μm, respectively.
The fourth has a 700 μm diameter mesh area with 25 μm openings.
These four are available a single-size boxes, or in an assortment. Multiple small crystals can be retrieved and mounted together, spread out over the mesh. The diffraction properties of each crystal can be separately interrogated using a small (<100 μm) X-ray beam, so crystal heterogeneity and maximum diffraction quality yielded by a given drop’s conditions can be quickly determined. This is especially useful in early crystallization trials when showers of crystals and precipitate are obtained.
When a drop contains many crystals, two or more crystallographic forms may be present which can differ dramatically in the quality of their diffraction. The regular grid of each MicroMesh makes it easy to match a diffraction pattern with a crystal and habit. Small ordered crystals can then be used, e.g., as seeds to obtain larger crystals suitable for structure determination, often without additional purification.
Excess liquid can be removed using wicks or by bringing filter paper in contact with the back of the mount.
The fifth MicroMesh Mount has an 80 μm diameter mesh area with 15 μm openings.
This small head is designed to fit entirely within the 80 μm and larger X-ray beams typical of standard synchrotron beamlines and of focused laboratory sources. Consequently, you don't have to see your tiny crystal to align it: just center the 80 μm head in the beam, and your crystal will be within it.
The smaller head also makes it easier to mount a single crystal, and produces less background scatter when the beam is aligned along the plane of the film.