Imperial College London
Alternate

Dr Lata Govada

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction

Research Associate
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 3037l.govada

 
 
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Location

 

Open Plan no 12Sir Alexander Fleming BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Nanev:2022:10.3390/ijms231810676,
author = {Nanev, CN and Saridakis, E and Govada, L and Chayen, NE},
doi = {10.3390/ijms231810676},
journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
pages = {1--13},
title = {Protein crystals nucleated and grown by means of porous materials display improved X-ray diffraction quality},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms231810676},
volume = {23},
year = {2022}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Well-diffracting protein crystals are indispensable for X-ray diffraction analysis, which is still the most powerful method for structure-function studies of biomolecules. A promising approach to growing such crystals is the use of porous nucleation-inducing materials. However, while protein crystal nucleation in pores has been thoroughly considered, little attention has been paid to the subsequent growth of crystals. Although the nucleation stage is decisive, it is the subsequent growth of crystals outside the pore that determines their diffraction quality. The molecular-scale mechanism of growth of protein crystals in and outside pores is theoretically considered. Due to the low degree of metastability, the crystals that emerge from the pores grow slowly, which is a prerequisite for better diffraction. This expectation has been corroborated by experiments carried out with several types of porous material, such as bioglass (“Naomi’s Nucleant”), buckypaper, porous gold and porous silicon. Protein crystals grown with the aid of bioglass and buckypaper yield significantly better diffraction quality compared with crystals grown conventionally. In all cases, visually superior crystals are usually obtained. Our theoretical conclusion is that heterogeneous nucleation of a crystal outside the pore is an exceptional case. Rather, the protein crystals nucleating inside the pores continue growing outside them.
AU  - Nanev,CN
AU  - Saridakis,E
AU  - Govada,L
AU  - Chayen,NE
DO  - 10.3390/ijms231810676
EP  - 13
PY  - 2022///
SN  - 1422-0067
SP  - 1
TI  - Protein crystals nucleated and grown by means of porous materials display improved X-ray diffraction quality
T2  - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms231810676
UR  - https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/18/10676
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/99877
VL  - 23
ER  -
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