Suppressing convection strength using confinement during protein\n crystallization

Le résumé fourni par la source

Fluid convection during protein crystallization plays a significant role in\ndetermining crystal growth rate and crystal quality. Crystals grown in reduced\nflow strength gives better quality crystal. Hence, tuning the flow strength is\nvery essential in the crystal growth process. In this work, we have\ndemonstrated a new method to suppress the flow strength using confinement\neffect during vapor diffusion method of protein crystallization where the\ncrystal is grown inside an evaporating droplet. Flow study is carried out at\nfour different confinement conditions to study the effect of confinement. Flow\ninside the droplet is caused by evaporation induced natural convection which is\nmeasured by micro-PIV method. Also concentration gradient generated around the\ngrowing crystal also induces buoyancy driven flow around the protein crystal\nduring the crystal growth phase. The evaporation rate from the droplet and the\nflow strength inside the droplet get suppressed by increasing confinement.\nHence, the flow strength can be tuned by adjusting the confinement which is a\nvery simple method to tune the flow strength.\n

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.