Estimation of diffusion coefficients of proteins

Abstract

Abstract A correlation for estimating the diffusion coefficients of protein molecules is presented. The correlation is based upon literature values of the protein diffusion coefficients and molal volumes for 143 proteins. The correlation can be used for the estimation of diffusion coefficients using only molecular weight. Accuracy is such that a linear regression on 301 proteins showed 75% of the diffusion coefficients estimated fell within 20% of the experimental values. The relationship between this correlation, the Stokes–Einstein equation, and the Wilke–Chang correlation is discussed.