FEBS practical crystallization course "Advanced methods in macromolecular crystallization X"

The 10th FEBS practical crystallization course "Advanced methods in macromolecular crystallization“ took place at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Czechia, from 9 to 15 June 2024.

The course was organized by Ivana Kuta Smatanova (University of South Bohemia, Czechia), Pavlina Rezacova (Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechia), Jeroen R. Mesters (University of Lübeck, Germany) and Jose A. Gavira (National Research Council and University of Granada, Spain). It was primarily supported by the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS). Eleven companies also contributed by providing equipment and materials for lab exercises, covering registration fees for eight students through four YTF FEBS grants, two grants from the Czech Society for Structural Biology and two grants from the Czech and Slovak Crystallographic Association, and sponsoring three poster prizes and a special prize from Professor Bernhard Rupp (Innsbruck Medical University, Austria, and k-k Hofkristallamt, San Diego, CA, USA).

The course featured two practical workshops conducted by supporting companies including Douglas Instruments Ltd and Altium International s.r.o. A distinguished group of 33 speakers and tutors (12 female and 21 male) from 12 different countries with exceptional expertise in protein crystallization and crystallography led the course. They presented 31 morning and 2 evening lectures to 24 students (12 female and 12 male).

The course started with welcome addresses from Associate Professor Ludek Berec, vice-rector for science and development at the University of South Bohemia; Associate Professor Dagmar Skodova Parmova, the Mayor of Ceske Budejovice; and Professor Mutay A. Aslan, the FEBS Advanced Courses Committee (ACC) representative and Member in Charge from Akdeniz University, Turkey. Additionally, Dr Sara Fuentes, Managing Editor of FEBS Open Bio, delivered an online lecture titled "Tackling the Reproducibility Crisis in Scientific Research."

Following the opening ceremony, participants, including PhD students and postdocs, were greeted online by two former practical crystallization course organizers: Professor Rolf Hilgenfeld from the University of Lübeck and Professor Juan Manuel García-Ruiz from LEC Granada. The participants were then introduced to new topics of structural biology (synthetic macrocycles, PROTACS, AlphaFold etc.) and advanced methods in protein crystallization (InCellCryst etc.). 

The first day concluded with a welcome party where students had the opportunity to introduce themselves to the speakers on a one-to-one basis. From Tuesday to Friday, the course followed a rigorous schedule from morning (08:30) to night, featuring lectures and lab exercises. These sessions covered a range of topics, from biophysical techniques for analyzing protein properties and sample quality before crystallization (such as dynamic light scattering and protein labeling) to protein crystallization screening, crystal improvement and in vivo crystallization. 

The students had the chance to perform experiments on their own proteins (with nine students bringing their own samples) or to use model proteins. Time was also allocated for poster sessions and discussions with the speakers. Three students were awarded the following poster prizes:

All awarded students presented the results of their work in a short lecture before the closing ceremony on Friday.

Additionally, a special prize was given to the most active participant, Anil A. Sohail (University of Oulu, Finland). He received a copy of Bernhard Rupp's book Biomolecular Crystallography: Principles, Practice, and Application to Structural Biology, personally dedicated by the author.

Alexandra Knopp (centre), flanked by the four organizers, receives the IUCr Journals Poster Prize. Congratulations!

Saturday morning was devoted to crystal observation and the final evaluation of the practical results.

We would like to conclude by expressing our gratitude to FEBS and the sponsors for their support in sustaining this course. We also extend our heartfelt thanks to all the speakers and tutors, whose contributions created a warm and friendly atmosphere throughout the week.

The course webpage can be found here. The photos were taken by Petr Pachl, Klara Nohavova and Radomir Kuzel.