MicroMounts™ are the world’s highest performance tools for retrieving and mounting protein crystals, virus crystals, and small molecule/inorganic crystals. They can be also used for handling small fragile samples of all sorts, including biological, archaeological and mineralogical samples. MicroMounts™ are compatible with all standard X-ray hardware, and can be inserted in 0.7 mm mechanical pencils or micromanipulators for easy handling.

Micromounts™ consist of thin polymer tips attached to beveled non-magnetic 0.025″ (0.64 mm) diameter stainless steel rods. Their patented design provides an excellent combination of X-ray and optical transparency, mechanical rigidity and flexibility, and precision dimensions.

The polymer is unoriented, so the background scatter does not show the sharp peaks of competing mounts, and has the lowest possible birefringence.

Curving the tip by wrapping its base around the rod makes it rigid, and provides a scoop-like action in retrieving samples. The tip can also flex and bend flat against e.g., a well or glass slide, to dislodge and then slip under a sample.

A wicking aperture draws excess liquid away from the sample, reducing background scatter and allowing faster sample cooling for cryocrystallography.

Since 2008, MicroMounts™ (and all of our other products) have been made using the most mechanically robust unoriented polymer available. With proper care – especially during cleaning – each MicroMount™ can be used to harvest and measure dozens of crystals.

Extremely easy to use, novices can be mounting samples in minutes. MicroMounts™ make your crystallography pipeline more efficient by maximizing the odds of successful mounting, cooling and data collection.

The best and easiest way to clean MiTeGen’s tools is to soak them in a bath of a detergent-containing solution. When mounted in MiTeGen base holders, large quantities of mounts can be cleaned at one time.

To remove protein residues, we recommend an enzyme-containing detergent such as Alconox’s Tergazyme or Decon’s Contrex EZ; otherwise, a standard laboratory glassware/plasticware cleaner like Alconox is adequate. We recommend an initial 10 to 15 minute soak, followed by a quick rinse in a bath of water to remove the detergent. The optimal length of the soak needed will be determined by what residual materials are left on the mount or tool (protein, etc.) and how long it has been sinced they were last used. The sooner you clean them after use the easier it will be.

MiTeGen’s Base Holder makes cleaning easy:

•Load your loop-containing bases into the holder. •Then place the holder into a plastic or glass tub or dish. •Mix your detergent-containing solution according to the instructions on the detergent box. •Then pour the detergent into the tub until the level rises to the Fill Line on the base holder.This will ensure that the loop tips are soaked, while keeping the stainless steel part of the bases out of the solution and preventing corrosion.

In the rare case when soaking doesn’t remove deposits, you can use a Medium (M) or Fine (F) paper wick. For easiest handling, cut back from the widest end using a razor blade so that the diameter fits into a 0.7 mm mechanical pencil. Then dip the other end in water, a detergent solution or in isopropanol, and gently stroke the polymer from base to tip.

Handling Do’s and Don’ts:

The microfabricated tips of MiTeGen’s MicroMounts™, MicroLoops™ and other tools are made from the most durable unoriented polymer available, for ultra-low background X-ray scatter. Compared with an oriented fiber like nylon, unoriented polymers can be more easily torn or cut if used improperly. Follow the instructions below to get the maximum life out of our products.

1. Never touch the tips with your hands. Always use our heavy duty tweezers along the pin shaft, not the tip.

2. Never push the beveled steel pin into the tip against a hard surface.

3. DO: Clean the tips by soaking in detergent while held in a MiTeGen Base Holder.

DO NOT: sonicate for extended times. Sonication for a few minute or so is ok, but sonication for long periods can damage some tips. Using an enzyme-containing detergent, sonication should be unnecessary.

4. DO: Remove stubborn residues using a MiTeGen paper wick

DO NOT: use cotton or foam-tipped swabs. Swabs can catch and tear the polymer.

5. To dry the tips after cleaning, let them air dry. You can briefly dip in isopropanol for faster drying. Avoid blow drying. If the nozzle is placed too close to the tip, the resulting turbulent drag force can damage the tip. Keep the nozzle at least 20 cm away from the tip.

• No more fumbling to glue mounts into bases.
• No more searching for a base with the right mount or for an empty base.
• Helps decrease costs and increase throughput.
• Easy swapping of mounts/loops to match your crystal’s size and shape, and to optimize harvesting and diffraction outcomes.
• Easy replacement of damaged mounts.
• Easy adjustment of crystal aperture height to simplify autoalignment.
• Secure gripping at all temperatures below T=300 K minimizes risk of sample loss.
• Precision machined from the highest quality materials for durability and reliability.
• Patented design captures MicroRT™ capillary tubing for easy room temperature measurements.

When using conventional goniometer bases, the MicroMount™ or loop must be epoxied or glued into the base. Gluing and removing glue can be time consuming and messy. Once glued, the mount and base must be used as a single unit. If the mount fails or becomes bent, both mount and base become unusuable. If the glue fails during automated handling, the mount and pin can fall out and jam the automounter.

The easiest crystal harvesting and the best diffraction outcomes are achieved by matching the mount’s aperture size and shape to the crystal. But if that perfect mount isn’t already glued into a base, you’ll likely just grab whatever is at hand — and suffer the consequences.

MiTeGen introduces its next breakthrough in sample handling: reusable goniometer bases. Our patented designs grab and securely hold MicroMounts™, MicroLoops™, and all other standard crystal mounts (loops) without epoxy, glue or grease.

Simply insert the mount’s pin into the base, and then push down using our heavy-duty tweezers until the grip is secure.

Survey your plates for crystals, and then quickly assemble mount + base combinations to match the harvesting and data collection challenges they present.

As with all of our goniometer bases, they can be used with our MicroRT™ capillaries for room temperature diffraction measurements and for crystal dehydration.