The Biological Crystallization Resource: Facilitating Knowledge-Based Protein Crystallizations

Abstract

The Biological Crystallization Resource (BCR) is a fully standardized, searchable, and comprehensive database of known crystallization conditions of biological macromolecular structures determined by X-ray crystallographic techniques, with a current total of over 18 000 entries. It was created to facilitate the discovery of the relationships between the properties of biological molecules and their optimal crystallization conditions. Construction and maintenance of the database make use of advanced data mining and manipulation techniques, with the associated software being capable of executing single or multiple parameter searches of database entries to determine optimal crystallization conditions for new targets of structural studies. It is a knowledge-based approach to deriving crystallization conditions designed to improve upon the very limited success rates observed for the random sparse matrix based screening methods currently widely employed in the field. Test results clearly demonstrate the predictive ability of BCR-derived knowledge-based crystallization screens, which not only deliver a more focused set of trial conditions but also the expectation of much higher crystallization success rates. The full BCR database, a comprehensive manual, and example demonstration are available at the following Web site: http://www.growacrystal.com.