On the theory of crystal growth in metastable systems with biomedical applications: protein and insulin crystallization

Alexandrov, Dmitri V.; Nizovtseva, Irina

doi:10.1098/rsta.2018.0214

Cited by 67 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…In this case, the kinetic equation for the particlevolume distribution function is written with allowance for the term responsible for the 'diffusion' mechanism of crystals in the space of their volumes. This analysis develops the previous theory for spherical particles in the presence of such a 'diffusion' term [40][41][42][43].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Nucleation and growth dynamics of ellipsoidal crystals in metastable liquids

Nikishina

Alexandrov

2021

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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When describing the growth of crystal ensembles from metastable solutions or melts, a significant deviation from a spherical shape is often observed. Experimental data show that the shape of growing crystals can often be considered ellipsoidal. The new theoretical models describing the transient nucleation of ellipsoidal particles and their growth with and without fluctuating rates at the intermediate stage of bulk phase transitions in metastable systems are considered. The nonlinear transport (diffusivity) of ellipsoidal crystals in the space of their volumes is taken into account in the Fokker–Planck equation allowing for fluctuating growth rates. The complete analytical solutions of integro-differential models of kinetic and balance equations are found and analysed. Our solutions show that the desupercooling dynamics is several times faster for ellipsoidal crystals as compared to spherical particles. In addition, the crystal-volume distribution function is lower and shifted to larger particle volumes when considering the growth of ellipsoidal crystals. What is more, this function is monotonically increasing to the maximum crystal size in the absence of fluctuations and is a bell-shaped curve when such fluctuations are taken into account. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Transport phenomena in complex systems (part 1)’.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Nucleation and growth dynamics of ellipsoidal crystals in metastable liquids

Nikishina

Alexandrov

2021

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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“…dynamics of the system, the evolving patterns in it, the evolution of polydisperse particulate assemblages as well as the final state and microstructure of the material. Such processes take place in different areas of applied science ranging from condensed matter physics, materials science and geophysics to chemical industry, biophysics and life science [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From nucleation and coarsening to coalescence in metastable liquids

Alexandrov

Аlexandrova

2020

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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The transition of a metastable liquid (supersaturated solution or supercooled melt) occurring from the intermediate stage (where the crystals nucleate and grow) to the concluding stage (where the larger particles evolve at the expense of the dissolution of smaller particles) is theoretically described, with allowance for various mass transfer mechanisms (reaction on the interface surface, volume diffusion, grain-boundary diffusion, diffusion along the dislocations) arising at the stage of Ostwald ripening (coalescence). The initial distribution function (its ‘tail’) for the concluding stage (forming as a result of the evolution of a particulate assemblage during the intermediate stage) is taken into account to determine the particle-size distribution function at the stage of Ostwald ripening. This modified distribution function essentially differs from the universal Lifshitz–Slyozov (LS) solutions for several mass transfer mechanisms. Namely, its maximum lies below and is shifted to the left in comparison with the LS asymptotic distribution function. In addition, the right branch of the particle-size distribution lies above and is shifted to the right of the LS blocking point. It is shown that the initial ‘tail’ of the particle-size distribution function completely determines its behaviour at the concluding stage of Ostwald ripening. The present theory agrees well with experimental data. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Patterns in soft and biological matters’.

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“…This causes a convection flow in the presence of gravity, agitating rapid crystal growth, though accompanied with lower orders and more defects. However, microgravity eliminates such convective mixing, often resulting in very slow crystal growth 17,[27][28][29] . In addition, the protein depletion zone formed under microgravity can serve as a filter against larger impurities with much slower diffusion, such as protein aggregates, which potentially bind to the crystal surface and impair the quality of crystal 30,31 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of amyloid β fibril formation under microgravity conditions

Yagi-Utsumi

Yanaka

Song

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Amyloid fibrils are self-assembled and ordered proteinaceous supramolecules structurally characterized by the cross-β spine. Amyloid formation is known to be related to various diseases typified by neurogenerative disorders and involved in a variety of functional roles. Whereas common mechanisms for amyloid formation have been postulated across diverse systems, the mesoscopic morphology of the fibrils is significantly affected by the type of solution condition in which it grows. Amyloid formation is also thought to share a phenomenological similarity with protein crystallization. While many studies have demonstrated the effect of gravity on protein crystallization, its effect on amyloid formation has not been reported. In this study, we conducted an experiment at the International Space Station (ISS) to characterize fibril formation of 40residue amyloid β (Aβ(1-40)) under microgravity conditions. Our comparative analyses revealed that the Aβ(1-40) fibrilization progresses much more slowly on the ISS than on the ground, similarly to protein crystallization. Furthermore, microgravity promoted the formation of distinct morphologies of Aβ(1-40) fibrils. Our findings demonstrate that the ISS provides an ideal experimental environment for detailed investigations of amyloid formation mechanisms by eliminating the conventionally uncontrollable factors derived from gravity. IntroductionCertain proteins are known to self-assemble into ordered supramolecular structures, such as filaments and even crystals, under specific physiological and pathological conditions 1,2 . The cytoskeletons present in all cells are made of such filamentous proteins, which dynamically assemble and disassemble to control cell morphology, movement, and signaling in physiological processes 1,3 . In contrast, filamentous protein aggregates known as amyloid fibrils are actively involved in pathological processes and are associated with various diseases, including neurogenerative disorders and diabetes 4-6 . Each of these diseases is characterized by a specific amyloidogenic protein, but it has been suggested that a common molecular mechanism governs fibril formation across these diverse systems. Amyloids may also play a variety of functional roles in many organisms and have been regarded as potentially useful nanomaterials in recent years 7-9 . Therefore, a detailed characterization of the self-assembling mechanism of amyloid fibrils and the resulting morphology is essential for developing therapeutic strategies for amyloidopathy and gaining the knowledge needed to create future nanomaterials.Increasing evidence provided by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) 10-12 and solid-state NMR spectroscopy [13][14][15] demonstrate that the morphology of amyloid fibrils is significantly affected by various solution conditions, such as protein concentration, ionic strength, pH, temperature, and pressure 9 . X-ray diffraction studies show that amyloid fibrils share similar structural features characterized by a cross-β spine: a double β-sheet with each sheet runni...

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On the theory of crystal growth in metastable systems with biomedical applications: protein and insulin crystallization

Cited by 67 publications

References 58 publications

Nucleation and growth dynamics of ellipsoidal crystals in metastable liquids

Nucleation and growth dynamics of ellipsoidal crystals in metastable liquids

From nucleation and coarsening to coalescence in metastable liquids

Characterization of amyloid β fibril formation under microgravity conditions

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