Study of the Behavior of Lysozyme Oligomers in Solutions by the Molecular Dynamics Method

Abstract

The dynamics of octamers of two types, which form (via translation) a tetragonal lysozyme crystal lattice, has been simulated on a 100-ns path with and without a precipitant. It is shown that one of the octamers under study is stable in the presence of a precipitant, whereas the other octamer dissociates into components both in the presence and in the absence of a precipitant. The results obtained not only confirmed the results of previous measurements of lysozyme solutions with NaCl precipitant by small-angle X-ray neutron scattering but also made it possible to establish the type of the octamer forming in the crystallization solution.