LCP Tools >> SONICC
SONICC
SONICC (Second Order Nonlinear Imaging of Chiral Crystals) is a new method for crystal detection, which is devoid of many drawbacks associated with other imaging techniques [1]. This method relies on two-photon scattering, which eliminates virtually all background from randomly oriented molecules, but produces a strong signal from chiral molecules arranged in a crystal. SONICC signal is not strongly affected by turbid media, such as certain lipidic mesophases, and it has a high signal-to-noise ratio even in the case of submicron size crystals. These properties make this method suitable for automatic crystal detection using simple and reliable threshold-based algorithms. SONICC, however, does not distinguish between crystals of proteins and other chiral molecules that may be present in the crystallization drop and requires specialized instrumentation, which may be expensive. SONICC imager is available from Formulatrix as a stand-alone instrument or as an attachment to their RockImager line.
REFERENCES:
1. Kissick D.J., Gualtieri E.J., Simpson G.J. and Cherezov V.(2010) Nonlinear optical imaging of integral membrane protein crystals in lipidic mesophases. Anal Chem 82: 491-7 >>