Generation of Size-Controlled, Submicrometer Protein Crystals

Abstract

Cross-linked protein crystals represent a new class of micro- and mesoporous materials with properties potentially useful in technologies as diverse as chiral separations and drug delivery. These applications require the generation of protein crystals in formats and sizes quite distinct from the traditional submillimeter single crystals favored by structural biologists. Here we report a high-yield method for forming monodisperse protein crystals with tunable dimensions ranging from 250 nm up to tens of micrometers. X-ray powder diffraction of these crystallites confirms that the hen egg white lysozyme crystals are identical in structure to that of the bulk tetragonal lysozyme (a = 79.05 Å; c = 37.96 Å).