Shaped Laser Pulses for Microsecond Time-Resolved Cryo-EM: Outrunning Crystallization during Flash Melting.

J Phys Chem Lett

Laboratory of Molecular Nanodynamics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.

Published: April 2024

Water vitrifies if cooled at rates above 3 × 10 K/s. In contrast, when the resulting amorphous ice is flash heated, crystallization occurs even at a more than 10 times higher heating rate, as we have recently shown. This may present an issue for microsecond time-resolved cryo-electron microscopy experiments, in which vitreous ice samples are briefly melted with a laser pulse because transient crystallization could potentially alter the dynamics of the embedded proteins. Here, we demonstrate how shaped microsecond laser pulses can be used to increase the heating rate and outrun crystallization. Time-resolved electron diffraction experiments reveal that the critical heating rate for amorphous solid water (ASW) is about 10 K/s. Our experiments add to the toolbox of the emerging field of microsecond time-resolved cryo-electron microscopy by demonstrating a straightforward approach for avoiding crystallization during laser melting and for achieving significantly higher heating rates, which paves the way for nanosecond time-resolved experiments.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11057027PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.4c00315DOI Listing

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