IUCrJ (May 2017)
Experimental strategies for imaging bioparticles with femtosecond hard X-ray pulses
- Benedikt J. Daurer,
- Kenta Okamoto,
- Johan Bielecki,
- Filipe R. N. C. Maia,
- Kerstin Mühlig,
- M. Marvin Seibert,
- Max F. Hantke,
- Carl Nettelblad,
- W. Henry Benner,
- Martin Svenda,
- Nicuşor Tîmneanu,
- Tomas Ekeberg,
- N. Duane Loh,
- Alberto Pietrini,
- Alessandro Zani,
- Asawari D. Rath,
- Daniel Westphal,
- Richard A. Kirian,
- Salah Awel,
- Max O. Wiedorn,
- Gijs van der Schot,
- Gunilla H. Carlsson,
- Dirk Hasse,
- Jonas A. Sellberg,
- Anton Barty,
- Jakob Andreasson,
- Sébastien Boutet,
- Garth Williams,
- Jason Koglin,
- Inger Andersson,
- Janos Hajdu,
- Daniel S. D. Larsson
Affiliations
- Benedikt J. Daurer
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Kenta Okamoto
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Johan Bielecki
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Filipe R. N. C. Maia
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Kerstin Mühlig
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- M. Marvin Seibert
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Max F. Hantke
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Carl Nettelblad
- Division of Scientific Computing, Department of Information Technology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Lägerhyddsvägen 2 (Box 337), SE-751 05 Uppsala, Sweden
- W. Henry Benner
- Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
- Martin Svenda
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Nicuşor Tîmneanu
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Tomas Ekeberg
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
- N. Duane Loh
- Centre for BioImaging Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore
- Alberto Pietrini
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Alessandro Zani
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Asawari D. Rath
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Daniel Westphal
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Richard A. Kirian
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
- Salah Awel
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
- Max O. Wiedorn
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
- Gijs van der Schot
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Gunilla H. Carlsson
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Dirk Hasse
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Jonas A. Sellberg
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Anton Barty
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
- Jakob Andreasson
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Sébastien Boutet
- Linac Coherent Light Source, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
- Garth Williams
- Brookhaven National Laboratory, 743 Brookhaven Avenue, Upton, NY 11973, USA
- Jason Koglin
- Linac Coherent Light Source, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
- Inger Andersson
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Janos Hajdu
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Daniel S. D. Larsson
- Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3 (Box 596), SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1107/S2052252517003591
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 4,
no. 3
pp. 251 – 262
Abstract
This study explores the capabilities of the Coherent X-ray Imaging Instrument at the Linac Coherent Light Source to image small biological samples. The weak signal from small samples puts a significant demand on the experiment. Aerosolized Omono River virus particles of ∼40 nm in diameter were injected into the submicrometre X-ray focus at a reduced pressure. Diffraction patterns were recorded on two area detectors. The statistical nature of the measurements from many individual particles provided information about the intensity profile of the X-ray beam, phase variations in the wavefront and the size distribution of the injected particles. The results point to a wider than expected size distribution (from ∼35 to ∼300 nm in diameter). This is likely to be owing to nonvolatile contaminants from larger droplets during aerosolization and droplet evaporation. The results suggest that the concentration of nonvolatile contaminants and the ratio between the volumes of the initial droplet and the sample particles is critical in such studies. The maximum beam intensity in the focus was found to be 1.9 × 1012 photons per µm2 per pulse. The full-width of the focus at half-maximum was estimated to be 500 nm (assuming 20% beamline transmission), and this width is larger than expected. Under these conditions, the diffraction signal from a sample-sized particle remained above the average background to a resolution of 4.25 nm. The results suggest that reducing the size of the initial droplets during aerosolization is necessary to bring small particles into the scope of detailed structural studies with X-ray lasers.
Keywords
- X-ray diffraction
- free-electron laser
- flash X-ray imaging
- diffraction before destruction
- virus
- Omono River virus
- OmRV
