Premium
Control of the rate of evaporation in protein crystallization by the `microbatch under oil' method
Author(s) -
Brumshtein Boris,
Greenblatt Harry M.,
Futerman Anthony H.,
Silman Israel,
Sussman Joel L.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of applied crystallography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.429
H-Index - 162
ISSN - 1600-5767
DOI - 10.1107/s0021889808024667
Subject(s) - crystallization , protein crystallization , nucleation , evaporation , desiccation , water of crystallization , aqueous solution , chemical engineering , chemistry , materials science , chromatography , crystallography , thermodynamics , organic chemistry , botany , biology , engineering , physics
Microbatch crystallization under oil is a powerful procedure for obtaining protein crystals. Using this method, aqueous protein solutions are dispensed under liquid oil, and water evaporates through the layer of oil, with a concomitant increase in the concentrations of both protein and precipitant until the nucleation point is reached. A technique is presented for regulating the rate of water evaporation, which permits fine tuning of the crystallization conditions as well as preventing complete desiccation of the drops in the microbatch crystallization trays.