VIRUS AND PROTEIN CRYSTAL-GROWTH ON EARTH AND IN MICROGRAVITY

被引:31
作者
MCPHERSON, A
机构
[1] Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Riverside
关键词
D O I
10.1088/0022-3727/26/8B/016
中图分类号
O59 [应用物理学];
学科分类号
摘要
Protein and virus crystals commonly grown in the laboratory on earth have also been grown in a microgravity environment on the US Space Shuttle. Two techniques for growth of the crystals were investigated: vapour diffusion and direct liquid-liquid diffusion. Crystals produced in microgravity, although generally isomorphous with earth-grown crystals, frequently show positive changes in habit, size and degree of perfection. X-ray diffusion analyses of crystals grown free from gravity usually show an improvement in the intensity-to-background ratio for all resolution ranges, and in some cases an extension of the resolution of the diffraction patterns to a higher limit. Both findings suggest an overall improvement in the quality of macromolecular crystals grown in space. A possible source of this improvement is the formation of depletion zones around crystals growing in microgravity that remain stable in the absence of convection and thereby allow more self-regulated growth. This in turn may be manifested as a more uniform and general ordering of the molecules in the crystal lattice and/or a reduction in gross crystal imperfections. Some illustrative results obtained in two kinds of macromolecular crystal growth experiments on International Microgravity Laboratory-1 are described.
引用
收藏
页码:B104 / B112
页数:9
相关论文
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