The BCS Screen
The BCS (Basic Chemical Space) Screen developed at the Structural Genomic Consortium (SGC), Oxford has a novel approach to screening. PEGs are grouped by molecular weight and mixed to create four PEG Smears* (available to purchase separately). The Smears cover a broader range of chemical space while reducing the number of PEG variables. The benefit of using PEG smears is that it reduces the number of PEG variables while maintaining a large coverage of PEG space.
The bottom line is that in tests at the SGC with 191 human proteins, the BCS Screen had a 42% hit rate with only 96 conditions. Many of these proteins had failed to crystallize in other screens.
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Crystal developed by Dr. Helen Gingell from Peak Proteins using the BCS Screen HT-96.
How it Works
The first 24 conditions in The BCS Screen form a grid screen of the four PEG Smears against pH (range 4.5-9.5). The remaining 72 conditions consist of a sparse matrix screen in which the precipitant is always one of the PEG Smears but with a variety of additives and buffers. The additives include some of the more unusual crystal-promoting agents such as rubidium chloride (also useful for phasing) and ammonium nitrate. More common additives including sodium bromide (useful for phasing) and glycerol are also used in the screen.