The Solubility of Hen Lysozyme in Ethylammonium Nitrate/H2O Mixtures and a Novel Approach to Protein Crystallization

We report on the solubility of hen lysozyme (HEWL) in aqueous ethylammonium nitrate (EAN) as a function of water content. We find the solubility behavior to be complex, exhibiting both a maximum (400 mg/mL) at very high EAN content) and a minimum at intermediate EAN content. We exploit this solubili...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: C. Austen Angell, Nolene Byrne
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2010-02-01
Series:Molecules
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/15/2/793/
Description
Summary:We report on the solubility of hen lysozyme (HEWL) in aqueous ethylammonium nitrate (EAN) as a function of water content. We find the solubility behavior to be complex, exhibiting both a maximum (400 mg/mL) at very high EAN content) and a minimum at intermediate EAN content. We exploit this solubility profile in a novel approach to generating crystals of hydrophilic proteins, based on rehydration of a high concentration protein solution. We describe the production of crystals of X-ray diffraction quality. Two related ionic liquid solvent systems, with the same solubility profiles but different effective pH characteristics, are identified for future evaluation.
ISSN:1420-3049