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Seeding Protein Crystallization with Cross-Linked Protein Crystals
journal contribution
posted on 2018-01-08, 00:00 authored by Er-Kai Yan, Feng-Zhu Zhao, Chen-Yan Zhang, Xue-Zhou Yang, Miao Shi, Jin He, Ya-Li Liu, Yue Liu, Hai Hou, Da-Chuan YinProtein
crystallization is of great importance because protein
crystals have a number of different important applications, including
large-scale purification of proteins, determination of protein structure,
nanoparticle preparation, and theoretical studies of crystallization.
An approach often used to efficiently crystallize proteins is the
use of nucleants or seeds (small fragments of protein crystals) that
can help increase the probability of protein crystallization. Due
to the very positive effect that seeding has on protein crystallization,
seeds are now widely accepted and utilized in practical protein crystallization.
Here, we show that cross-linked protein crystals (CLPCs), which retain
the crystal structure but are much more stable than non-cross-linked
crystals, can also be used as a new type of seed for promoting protein
crystallization. Seeding with CLPCs has effects on both the reproducibility
and screening of protein crystals and could improve the optical perfection
(well-defined facets) of protein crystals and the probability of obtaining
protein crystals. In addition, the cross-linked protein crystals may
reduce the concentration of protein molecules needed to obtain protein
crystals. Furthermore, CLPCs are very stable in air, and no protective
medium is necessary for the long-term storage of CLPCs. This feature
makes the CLPC seeding method a potentially powerful technique in
practical protein crystallization on either a laboratorial or an industrial
scale.