Nucleation of protein crystals

IF 4.5 2区 材料科学 Q1 CRYSTALLOGRAPHY
Peter G. Vekilov
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引用次数: 31

Abstract

Protein crystal nucleation is a central problem in biological crystallography and other areas of science, technology, and medicine. Recent studies have demonstrated that protein crystal nuclei form within crucial precursors. Data for several proteins provided by these methods have demonstrated that the nucleation precursors are clusters consisting of protein dense liquid, which are metastable with respect to the host protein solution. The clusters are several hundred nanometers in size, they occupy from 10−7 to 10−3 of the solution volume, and their properties in solutions supersaturated with respect to crystals are similar to those in homogeneous, i.e., undersaturated, solutions. The clusters exist due to the conformation flexibility of the protein molecules, leading to the exposure of hydrophobic surfaces and enhanced intermolecular binding. These results indicate that protein conformational flexibility might be the mechanism behind the metastable mesoscopic clusters and crystal nucleation. The investigations of the cluster properties are still in their infancy. Results on direct imaging of cluster behaviors and characterization of cluster mechanisms with a variety of proteins will soon lead to major breakthroughs in protein biophysics.

蛋白质晶体的成核
蛋白质晶体成核是生物晶体学和其他科学、技术和医学领域的核心问题。最近的研究表明,蛋白质晶体核在关键的前体中形成。这些方法提供的几种蛋白质的数据表明,成核前体是由蛋白质致密液体组成的簇,相对于宿主蛋白质溶液是亚稳态的。这些团簇的尺寸为几百纳米,它们占据了溶液体积的10−7到10−3,它们在过饱和溶液中的晶体性质与在不饱和溶液中的晶体性质相似。簇的存在是由于蛋白质分子的构象灵活性,导致疏水表面的暴露和增强分子间的结合。这些结果表明,蛋白质的构象柔韧性可能是亚稳介观团簇和晶体成核的机制。对星团性质的研究仍处于初级阶段。多种蛋白质的团簇行为的直接成像和团簇机制表征的结果将很快导致蛋白质生物物理学的重大突破。
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来源期刊
Progress in Crystal Growth and Characterization of Materials
Progress in Crystal Growth and Characterization of Materials 工程技术-材料科学:表征与测试
CiteScore
8.80
自引率
2.00%
发文量
10
审稿时长
1 day
期刊介绍: Materials especially crystalline materials provide the foundation of our modern technologically driven world. The domination of materials is achieved through detailed scientific research. Advances in the techniques of growing and assessing ever more perfect crystals of a wide range of materials lie at the roots of much of today''s advanced technology. The evolution and development of crystalline materials involves research by dedicated scientists in academia as well as industry involving a broad field of disciplines including biology, chemistry, physics, material sciences and engineering. Crucially important applications in information technology, photonics, energy storage and harvesting, environmental protection, medicine and food production require a deep understanding of and control of crystal growth. This can involve suitable growth methods and material characterization from the bulk down to the nano-scale.
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