open access

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/64701

Development of compartment for studies on the growth of protein crystals in space

英語

2016-03-15

American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Review of Scientific Instruments

87(3)

033107

To clarify the growth mechanism of a protein crystal, it is essential to measure its growth rate with respect to the supersaturation. We developed a compartment (growth cell) for measuring the growth rate (<0.1 nm s(-1)) of the face of a protein crystal at a controlled supersaturation by interferometry over a period of half a year in space. The growth cell mainly consists of quartz glass, in which the growth solution and a seed crystal are enclosed by capillaries, the screw sample holder, and a helical insert. To avoid the destruction of the cell and the evaporation of the water from the solution inside the cell, we selected the materials for these components with care. The equipment was successfully used to examine the growth of a lysozyme crystal at a controlled supersaturation in space, where convection is negligible because of the microgravity environment, thereby advancing our understanding of the mechanism of protein crystal growth from solution. The technique used to develop the growth cell is useful not only for space experiments but also for kinetic studies of materials with very slow growth and dissolution rates (<10(-3) nm s(-1)). (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.

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Version of Record

This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. The following article appeared in Review of Scientific Instruments 87, 033107 (2016); doi: 10.1063/1.4942961 and may be found at http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/rsi/87/3/10.1063/1.4942961 .

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