The temporal and spatial growth behaviour of protein crystals, subject to different cooling strategies in protein crystallisation was investigated. Although the impact of temperature and cooling rate on crystal growth...The temporal and spatial growth behaviour of protein crystals, subject to different cooling strategies in protein crystallisation was investigated. Although the impact of temperature and cooling rate on crystal growth of small molecules was well documented, much less has been reported on their impact on the crystallisation of proteins. In this paper, an experimental set-up is configured to carry out such a study which involves an automatic temperature controlled hot-stage crystalliser fitted with a real-time imaging system. Linbro parallel crystallisation experiments(24-well plate) were also conducted to find the suitable initial conditions to be used in the hot-stage crystallisation experiments, including the initial concentration of HEW lysozyme solutions, precipitate concentration and pH value. It was observed that fast cooling rates at the early stage led to precipitates while slow cooling rates produced crystal nuclei, and very slow cooling rates, much smaller than for small molecules are critical to the growth of the nuclei and the crystals to a desired shape. The interesting results provide valuable insight as well as experimental proof of the feasibility and effectiveness of cooling as a means for achieving controlled protein crystallisation, compared with the evaporation approach which was widely used to grow single large crystals for X-ray diffraction study. Since cooling rate control can be easily achieved and has good repeatability, it suggests that large-scale production of protein crystals can be effectively achieved by manipulating cooling rates.展开更多
Protein crystal growth is quite important for the determination of protein structureswhich are essential to the understanding of life at molecular level as well as to the development of molecu-lar biotechnology.The mi...Protein crystal growth is quite important for the determination of protein structureswhich are essential to the understanding of life at molecular level as well as to the development of molecu-lar biotechnology.The microgravity environment of space is an ideal place to study the complicated pro-tein crystallization and to grow good-quality protein crystals.A number of crystal-growth experiments of10 different proteins were carried out in August,1992 on the Chinese re-entry satellite FSW-2 in spaceusing a tube crystallization equipment made in China.A total of 25 samples from 6 proteins producedcrystals,and the effects of microgravity on protein crystal growth were observed,especially for an acidicphospholipase A2 and henegg-white lysozyme which gave better crystals in space than earth-grown crys-tals in ground control experiments.The results have shown that the microgravity in space favors the im-provement of the size,perfection,morphology and internal order of the grown protein crytals.展开更多
This paper reports that an optical diagnostic system consisting of Mach-Zehnder interferometer with a phase shift device and image processor has been used for study of the kinetics of protein crystal growing process. ...This paper reports that an optical diagnostic system consisting of Mach-Zehnder interferometer with a phase shift device and image processor has been used for study of the kinetics of protein crystal growing process. The crystallization process of protein crystal by vapour diffusion is investigated. The interference fringes are observed in real time. The present experiment demonstrates that the diffusion and the sedimentation influence the crystallization of protein crystal which grows in solution, and the concentration capillary convection associated with surface tension occurs at the vicinity of free surface of the protein mother liquor, and directly affects on the outcome of protein crystallization. So far the detailed analysis and the important role of the fluid phenomena in protein crystallization have been discussed a little in both space- and ground-based crystal growth experiments. It is also found that these fluid phenomena affect the outcome of protein crystallization, regular growth, and crystal quality. This may explain the fact that many results of space-based investigation do not show overall improvement.展开更多
The advances of protein crystal growth in microgravity are limited by its low success rate of space crystallization experiments. Our recent efforts have concentrated on exploration of the ways to increase the success ...The advances of protein crystal growth in microgravity are limited by its low success rate of space crystallization experiments. Our recent efforts have concentrated on exploration of the ways to increase the success rate of the experiments.The corresponding studies include structural comparisons of space- and Earthgrown protein crystals, numerical simulations of solute transport in protein crystallizer, optimization of protein crystailization conditions and improvement of crystallization techniques used. These studies show that the success rate of space protein crystallization could be improved by different ways.展开更多
The lysozyme crystals were made by batch crystallization method and the distribution of aggregate in solution were measured by dynamic light scattering. The results showed that the dimension of aggregate increased wit...The lysozyme crystals were made by batch crystallization method and the distribution of aggregate in solution were measured by dynamic light scattering. The results showed that the dimension of aggregate increased with the increase of the concentration of lysozyme and NaCl, lysozyme molecules aggregated gradually in solution and finally arrived at balance each other. The higher the concentrations of lysozyme and NaCl were, the faster the growth rate of （110） face was. The growth rates of lysozyme crystal were obtained by a Zeiss microscope, and the effective surface energy （a） of growing steps were calculated about 4.01×10^-8s J·cm^-2 according to the model of multiple two-dimensional nucleation mechanism.展开更多
随着后基因组时代的到来以及蛋白质组学研究的深入开展,研究蛋白质晶体生长成为生物化学和结构生物学领域一个广泛关注的课题。通过使用原子力显微镜(Atomic Force Microscope,简称AFM)对杜仲抗真菌蛋白(eucommia antifungal protein,简...随着后基因组时代的到来以及蛋白质组学研究的深入开展,研究蛋白质晶体生长成为生物化学和结构生物学领域一个广泛关注的课题。通过使用原子力显微镜(Atomic Force Microscope,简称AFM)对杜仲抗真菌蛋白(eucommia antifungal protein,简称EAFP)的晶体在有母液存在下原位实时动态地进行了晶面生长观察。研究结果表明:不同过饱和度对EAFP晶体生长形貌的影响较大,较高的过饱和度下生长很快,生长台阶密度高,较高的过饱和度下主要进行各向异性二维台阶的发生、发展,较低的过饱和度下主要采用螺旋位错的生长方式,当过饱和度极低时生长缓慢,且晶体表面有很多小孔存在,晶面生长很不完整;还对不同过饱和度下晶体生长速率进行了定量的测量,也反映了过饱和度对EAFP晶体生长的影响;同时对在AFM观察过程中由探针的扫描速度和方向对表面形貌的影响进行了讨论。展开更多
基金Supported by the China One Thousand Talent Scheme,the National Natural Science Foundation of China under its Major Research Scheme of Meso-scale Mechanism and Control in Multi-phase Reaction Processes(91434126)the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province(2014A030313228)+1 种基金benefited from early work funded by UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council(EP/H008012/1EP/H008853/1)
文摘The temporal and spatial growth behaviour of protein crystals, subject to different cooling strategies in protein crystallisation was investigated. Although the impact of temperature and cooling rate on crystal growth of small molecules was well documented, much less has been reported on their impact on the crystallisation of proteins. In this paper, an experimental set-up is configured to carry out such a study which involves an automatic temperature controlled hot-stage crystalliser fitted with a real-time imaging system. Linbro parallel crystallisation experiments(24-well plate) were also conducted to find the suitable initial conditions to be used in the hot-stage crystallisation experiments, including the initial concentration of HEW lysozyme solutions, precipitate concentration and pH value. It was observed that fast cooling rates at the early stage led to precipitates while slow cooling rates produced crystal nuclei, and very slow cooling rates, much smaller than for small molecules are critical to the growth of the nuclei and the crystals to a desired shape. The interesting results provide valuable insight as well as experimental proof of the feasibility and effectiveness of cooling as a means for achieving controlled protein crystallisation, compared with the evaporation approach which was widely used to grow single large crystals for X-ray diffraction study. Since cooling rate control can be easily achieved and has good repeatability, it suggests that large-scale production of protein crystals can be effectively achieved by manipulating cooling rates.
文摘Protein crystal growth is quite important for the determination of protein structureswhich are essential to the understanding of life at molecular level as well as to the development of molecu-lar biotechnology.The microgravity environment of space is an ideal place to study the complicated pro-tein crystallization and to grow good-quality protein crystals.A number of crystal-growth experiments of10 different proteins were carried out in August,1992 on the Chinese re-entry satellite FSW-2 in spaceusing a tube crystallization equipment made in China.A total of 25 samples from 6 proteins producedcrystals,and the effects of microgravity on protein crystal growth were observed,especially for an acidicphospholipase A2 and henegg-white lysozyme which gave better crystals in space than earth-grown crys-tals in ground control experiments.The results have shown that the microgravity in space favors the im-provement of the size,perfection,morphology and internal order of the grown protein crytals.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos 10672171 and 10432060)
文摘This paper reports that an optical diagnostic system consisting of Mach-Zehnder interferometer with a phase shift device and image processor has been used for study of the kinetics of protein crystal growing process. The crystallization process of protein crystal by vapour diffusion is investigated. The interference fringes are observed in real time. The present experiment demonstrates that the diffusion and the sedimentation influence the crystallization of protein crystal which grows in solution, and the concentration capillary convection associated with surface tension occurs at the vicinity of free surface of the protein mother liquor, and directly affects on the outcome of protein crystallization. So far the detailed analysis and the important role of the fluid phenomena in protein crystallization have been discussed a little in both space- and ground-based crystal growth experiments. It is also found that these fluid phenomena affect the outcome of protein crystallization, regular growth, and crystal quality. This may explain the fact that many results of space-based investigation do not show overall improvement.
文摘The advances of protein crystal growth in microgravity are limited by its low success rate of space crystallization experiments. Our recent efforts have concentrated on exploration of the ways to increase the success rate of the experiments.The corresponding studies include structural comparisons of space- and Earthgrown protein crystals, numerical simulations of solute transport in protein crystallizer, optimization of protein crystailization conditions and improvement of crystallization techniques used. These studies show that the success rate of space protein crystallization could be improved by different ways.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.10472127 and No.10432060)Knowledge Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(KSCX2-SW-322,KICX2-SW-L05).
文摘The lysozyme crystals were made by batch crystallization method and the distribution of aggregate in solution were measured by dynamic light scattering. The results showed that the dimension of aggregate increased with the increase of the concentration of lysozyme and NaCl, lysozyme molecules aggregated gradually in solution and finally arrived at balance each other. The higher the concentrations of lysozyme and NaCl were, the faster the growth rate of （110） face was. The growth rates of lysozyme crystal were obtained by a Zeiss microscope, and the effective surface energy （a） of growing steps were calculated about 4.01×10^-8s J·cm^-2 according to the model of multiple two-dimensional nucleation mechanism.
文摘为研究三角帆蚌Nacrein蛋白对珍珠晶体成型的影响,通过巢式及3′-RACE PCR对三角帆蚌基质蛋白Nacrein基因3′端序列进行克隆,得到850bp碱基片段,分析表明其与合浦珠母贝同源基因序列相似度为56%,与马氏珠母贝相似度为50%。试验通过水提法初步分离出珍珠质水溶性基质蛋白,并采用快速蛋白液相色谱(fast protein liquid chromatography,FPLC)分离出分子量约为60kD的Nacrein蛋白。此外,采用配对试验设计,对试验组外套膜组织培养样品加入Nacrein蛋白,研究Nacrein蛋白对晶体成型的影响,结果显示,加入Nacrein蛋白的试验组结晶成棱形状;而未加Nacrein蛋白的对照组结晶成雪花状,而且在晶体形成的时间上,试验组也较之对照组要早。研究表明,Nacrein蛋白能加速外套膜组织分泌的钙质形成棱状结晶,从而对晶体成型产生影响。本研究为进一步研究基质蛋白对生物矿化的作用提供试验依据,对珍珠培育生产有一定指导意义。
文摘随着后基因组时代的到来以及蛋白质组学研究的深入开展,研究蛋白质晶体生长成为生物化学和结构生物学领域一个广泛关注的课题。通过使用原子力显微镜(Atomic Force Microscope,简称AFM)对杜仲抗真菌蛋白(eucommia antifungal protein,简称EAFP)的晶体在有母液存在下原位实时动态地进行了晶面生长观察。研究结果表明:不同过饱和度对EAFP晶体生长形貌的影响较大,较高的过饱和度下生长很快,生长台阶密度高,较高的过饱和度下主要进行各向异性二维台阶的发生、发展,较低的过饱和度下主要采用螺旋位错的生长方式,当过饱和度极低时生长缓慢,且晶体表面有很多小孔存在,晶面生长很不完整;还对不同过饱和度下晶体生长速率进行了定量的测量,也反映了过饱和度对EAFP晶体生长的影响;同时对在AFM观察过程中由探针的扫描速度和方向对表面形貌的影响进行了讨论。
