Enhancement in resolution and lack of radiation damage in a rapidly frozen lysozyme crystal subjected to high-intensity synchrotron radiation

X-ray data have been collected from a monoclinic hen egg-white lysozyme (HEWL) crystal, rapidly frozen at 120 K on the end of a glass fiber, using high-intensity synchrotron X-radiation. A comparison of oscillation photographs taken at the beginning and end of data collection shows no evidence of radiation damage even though the crystal was exposed in the synchrotron beam for ~8 h. Not only are the low-resolution data unaffected by radiation damage but the high-resolution data remain unaffected as well. There is also a marked improvement in the resolution of the diffraction pattern of the rapidly frozen crystal when compared to a similarly sized crystal irradiated in a capillary tube at room temperature.