Enhancing the volume and the optical quality of hen egg-white lysozyme crystals by coupling the salt concentration gradient crystallization method with a magnetic field

Abstract

The effect of coupling the salt concentration gradient crystallization method with the use of the paramagnetic salt MnCl2 and a magnetic field is reported. The use of a simple magnetic device is shown to have a significant effect on hen egg-white lysozyme crystal growth.

Enhancing Protein Crystallization under a Magnetic Field

“…Presumably, a magnetic field has no effect on the increase in viscosity near the growing crystal, the reduction in natural convection inside the crystallization solution, or the decrease in the diffusion coefficient of the protein solution [12,47]. Experiments under a strong magnetic field have yet to be attempted; however, the strength of 200 mT is thought to be adequate for nucleation.…”

“…The crystal's volume, shape, and quality also can be affected when it is exposed to a magnetic field. In our and others' previous works [28,32,[34][35][36][37][38]47], as a part of these efforts, the so-called magnetic compensation was developed using biological samples and successful results have been reported. The device is composed of permanent magnets available commercially and protein crystals larger than 1.0 mm 3 were obtained.…”