NSLS Visiting Scientist Mehmet Aslantas Wins Prestigious Lecturer
Award
National Synchrotron Light Source visiting scientist Mehmet
Aslantas has won the prestigious Margaret C. Etter Student Lecturer
Award for a talk on his recent work: how to reduce the effects of
radiation damage to protein crystals during synchrotron x-ray studies.
He received the award at American Crystallographic Association
national meeting, held in Chicago, Illinois, on July 18-22. The Etter
award, given out just once a year, recognizes achievement and future
potential for scientists at an early stage in their independent
careers.
Aslantas, who initially came to the NSLS for six months through a
U.S. Department of Energy Cooperative Research program, received an
extension that allowed him to stay for over a year. “The NSLS is a
great place to work, and I couldn’t have completed my research or won
this award without the research extension I received,” said Aslantas.
“I would like to thank the NSLS Chairman, Steve Dierker, the Associate
Chair for User Science, Chi-Chang Kao, Vivian Stojanoff, and the User
Administration office for their support.”
Aslantas worked under Stojanoff’s supervision at NSLS beamlines X6A
and X17B1. In his talk, titled “Radiation Effects on Biological
Samples,” he described his work at the beamlines. At X6A, he studied
the effect of low-energy x-rays on “Lyzozyme” crystals, which are
standard test protein crystals. At X17B1, the sample was subjected to
high-energy x-rays.
“My experimental results show that, with lower-energy x-rays, the
sample absorbs more radiation than at higher energies, in which it
absorbs less energy and sustains no significant damage,” he said.
“This is because the low-energy x-ray beam interacts with the inner
shell electrons in the atoms of the protein, causing an overall higher
dose to the sample. This leads to structural damage and limits the
structural information we can learn about the sample. However the high
energy x-rays interact with the outer shell electrons in the atom of
the protein. This interaction, known as Compton Scattering, plays a
role in causing the overall dose deposited to the sample to be less
significant. The sample will have a longer life time, too.”
Aslantas’ work is funded by a U.S. Department of Energy Cooperative
Research program, which allows him to work at the NSLS as part of a
scientific exchange program with another synchrotron, SESAME
(Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the
Middle East). SESAME is under construction.
Currently, Aslantas is preparing three manuscripts describing his
work at the NSLS. His experience will help him form a protein
crystallography group at his home institution, Hacettepe University in
Ankara, Turkey. In turn, this group will be working with SESAME to
develop a protein crystallography beamline at the facility. After his
return to Hacettepe University, Aslantas expects to keep in close
contact with the NSLS and will continue his research.
Article by: Laura Mgrdichian
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