Phase behaviour of globular protein and flexible polymer in an aqueous medium

A simple model for the phase behaviour of a globular protein and a flexible polymer in an aqueous medium is described, in which both the compact feature of the protein and the flexble feature of the polymer have been included. The phase diagrams calculated by using the model suggest that for a given protein, the behaviour depends strongly on the polymer molecular weight. Fluid-fluid-solid three-phase and fluid-fluid two-phase equilibria can be found only when the polymer molecular weight is sufficiently high; otherwise, the only two-phase region in the phase diagram is a fluid-solid two-phase region.