Orientation of tetragonal lysozyme crystals nucleated on fatty acid thin films

Influence of the crystallization solution on orientations of lysozyme crystals nucleated on fatty acid thin films

“…1 shows AFM images of mica and behenic acid substrates and optical microphotographs of tetragonal lysozyme crystals nucleated on the substrates. As reported in our earlier paper [3], f1 1 0g-oriented crystals (indicated by arrows) were nucleated on monomer layer films, while only f1 0 1g-and randomly oriented crystals were observed on bare mica substrates. The number of oriented crystals nucleated on monomer layer films and mica substrates as a function of buffer concentration are illustrated in Figs.…”

“…For example, Tsekova et al demonstrated that a hydrophobic substrate promotes the nucleation of tetragonal hen egg-white lysozyme crystals [12]. However, we suppose that these assumptions are not favorable in this case, because the ratio of nucleated crystals is almost independent of pH, and f1 1 0g-oriented crystals are rarely nucleated on both hydrophilic mica and hydrophobic normal growth layers of behenic acid [3].…”

“…Recently, several attempts to control the orientation of protein crystals have been made [1][2][3][4]. Among these, some investigators demonstrated that the orientation of protein crystals could be controlled by using appropriate substrates.…”

“…Among these, some investigators demonstrated that the orientation of protein crystals could be controlled by using appropriate substrates. For example, the authors have revealed that tetragonal lysozyme crystals prefer to nucleate with the f1 0 1g planes parallel to thick behenic acid films and bare mica substrates, while crystals with the f1 1 0g planes parallel to the substrate were also nucleated on monomer layer films of behenic acid [3]. Rong et al also succeeded in controlling the orientation of lysozyme crystals using Poly LLysine coated glass substrates [4].…”

Impurity effects on orientation of lysozyme crystals nucleated on fatty acid thin films

“…For example, although McPherson and Shlichta [1] demonstrated the epitaxial growth of protein on inorganic crystal substrates about 20 years ago, the reproducibility of the experimental results has yet to be confirmed. On the other hand, recent studies have revealed that organic thin films induce the epitaxial growth of protein crystals [2,3]. This indicates that the selection of appropriate substrates is the most important for the epitaxial growth of proteins.…”