Controlling Protein Crystal Nucleation by Droplet‐Based Microfluidics |
| |
Authors: | Masatoshi Maeki Yuki Teshima Saori Yoshizuka Dr Hiroshi Yamaguchi Dr Kenichi Yamashita Prof Masaya Miyazaki |
| |
Institution: | 1. Department of Molecular and Material Sciences, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Kyushu University, 6‐1 Kasuga‐Koen, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816‐8580 (Japan);2. Liberal Arts Education Center, Aso Campus, Tokai University, Minami‐Aso, Kumamoto, 869‐1404 (Japan);3. Measurement Solution Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 807‐1, Shuku, Tosu, Saga 841‐0052 (Japan), Fax: (+81)?942‐4059 |
| |
Abstract: | Herein, we demonstrate the potential of droplet‐based microfluidics for controlling protein crystallization and generating single‐protein crystals. We estimated the critical droplet size for obtaining a single crystal within a microdroplet and investigated the crystallization of four model proteins to confirm the effect of protein molecular diffusion on crystallization. A single crystal was obtained in microdroplets smaller than the critical size by using droplet‐based microfluidics. In the case of thaumatin crystallization, a single thaumatin crystal was obtained in a 200 μm droplet even with high supersaturation. In the case of ferritin crystallization, the nucleation profile of ferritin crystals had a wider distribution than the nucleation profiles of lysozyme, thaumatin, and glucose isomerase crystallization. We found that the droplet‐based microfluidic approach was able to control the nucleation of a protein by providing control over the crystallization conditions and the droplet size, and that the diffusion of protein molecules is a significant factor in controlling the nucleation of protein crystals in droplet‐based microfluidics. |
| |
Keywords: | droplet microfluidics mononucleation protein crystallization single crystallization |
|
|