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Figure 1
Model for cooling-induced crystal damage. Cooling triggers contraction of the protein, lattice repacking and the consequent contraction and reshaping of the solvent channel (black outline; Juers & Matthews, 2001BB26). If the internal liquid (light gray) does not contract enough to compensate, the unit cell bursts, much as a copper pipe carrying water can burst if it is cooled below the freezing point of water. Curved black arrows show a hypothetical flow of the liquid. In this example, an idealized perfect crystal is broken into three smaller domains.

Journal logoSTRUCTURAL
BIOLOGY
ISSN: 2059-7983
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