Issue 8, 2011

Small temperature oscillations promote proteincrystallization

Abstract

Small temperature oscillations (TOs) are shown to increase the success rates of protein crystallization experiments by enhancing protein nucleation and by inducing the formation of larger crystals. This effect was initially found when we accidentally used a defective crystallization incubator and it is now confirmed for the crystallization of egg-white lysozyme at 14 and 20 °C, and also glucose isomerase at 20 °C, both under experimental conditions close to the nucleation zone of the proteins' phase diagram. Measurements of the nucleation times at constant lysozyme and precipitant concentrations show that the nucleation promoting effect is due to favourable crystallization pathways induced by TOs. The imposed TOs were ±1.0 °C during complete cycles of 20 min. X-Ray diffraction studies show worst and more disperse resolution limits when the lysozyme crystals are grown at constant temperature (2.05 ± 0.51 Å without TOs, and 1.79 ± 0.15 Å with TOs).

Graphical abstract: Small temperature oscillations promote protein crystallization

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 Aug 2010
Accepted
03 Feb 2011
First published
08 Mar 2011

CrystEngComm, 2011,13, 3051-3056

Small temperature oscillations promote protein crystallization

C. Ferreira, R. Crespo, P. M. Martins, L. Gales, F. Rocha and A. M. Damas, CrystEngComm, 2011, 13, 3051 DOI: 10.1039/C0CE00550A

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