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Banks H, Surfaro F, Pastryk KF, Buchholz C, Zaluzhnyy IA, Gerlach A, Schreiber F. From adsorption to crystallization of proteins: Evidence for interface-assisted nucleation. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 2024; 241:114063. [PMID: 38954939 DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2024.114063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2024] [Revised: 04/26/2024] [Accepted: 06/25/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
Protein crystallization is among the key processes in biomolecular research, but the underlying mechanisms are still elusive. Here, we address the role of inevitable interfaces for the nucleation process. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) with simultaneously optical microscopy, confocal microscopy, and grazing-incidence small angle X-rays scattering (GISAXS) were employed to investigate the temporal behavior from the initial stage of protein adsorption to crystallization. Here we studied the crystallization of the Human Serum Albumin (HSA), the most abundant blood protein, in the presence of a charged surface and a trivalent salt. We found evidence for interface-assisted nucleation of crystals. The kinetic stages involved are initial adsorption followed by enhanced adsorption after longer times, subsequent nucleation, and finally crystal growth. The results highlight the importance of interfaces for protein phase behavior and in particular for nucleation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hadra Banks
- Institut für Angewandte Physik, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, Tübingen 72076, Germany.
| | - Furio Surfaro
- Institut für Angewandte Physik, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, Tübingen 72076, Germany
| | - Kai-Florian Pastryk
- Institut für Angewandte Physik, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, Tübingen 72076, Germany
| | - Cara Buchholz
- Institut für Angewandte Physik, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, Tübingen 72076, Germany
| | - Ivan A Zaluzhnyy
- Institut für Angewandte Physik, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, Tübingen 72076, Germany
| | - Alexander Gerlach
- Institut für Angewandte Physik, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, Tübingen 72076, Germany
| | - Frank Schreiber
- Institut für Angewandte Physik, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, Tübingen 72076, Germany; Center for Light-Matter Interaction, Sensors & Analytics LISA+, Auf der Morgenstelle 15, Tübingen 72076, Germany
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Ferreira J, Domínguez-Arca V, Carneiro J, Prieto G, Taboada P, Moreira de Campos J. Classical and Nonclassical Nucleation Mechanisms of Insulin Crystals. ACS OMEGA 2024; 9:23364-23376. [PMID: 38854527 PMCID: PMC11154923 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c10052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Revised: 03/29/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
Although the Classical Nucleation Theory (CNT) is the most consensual theory to explain protein nucleation mechanisms, experimental observations during the shear-induced assays suggest that the CNT does not always describe the insulin nucleation process. This is the case at intermediate precipitant (ZnCl2) solution concentrations (2.3 mM) and high-temperature values (20 and 40 °C) as well as at low precipitant solution concentrations (1.6 mM) and low-temperature values (5 °C). In this work, crystallization events following the CNT registered at high precipitant solution concentrations (3.1 and 4.7 mM) are typically described by a Newtonian response. On the other hand, crystallization events following a nonclassical nucleation pathway seem to involve the formation of a metastable intermediate state before crystal formation and are described by a transition from Newtonian to shear-thinning responses. A dominant shear-thinning behavior (shear viscosity values ranging more than 6 orders of magnitude) is found during aggregation/agglomeration events. The rheological analysis is complemented with different characterization techniques (Dynamic Light Scattering, Energy-Dispersive Spectroscopy, Circular Dichroism, and Differential Scanning Calorimetry) to understand the insulin behavior in solution, especially during the occurrence of aggregation/agglomeration events. To the best of our knowledge, the current work is the first study describing nonclassical nucleation mechanisms during shear-induced crystallization experiments, which reveals the potential of the interdisciplinary approach herein described and opens a window for a clear understanding of protein nucleation mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana Ferreira
- CEFT—Transport
Phenomena Research Center, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty
of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
- ALiCE—Associate
Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
| | - Vicente Domínguez-Arca
- Grupo
de Física de Coloides y Polímeros, Departamento de Física
de Partículas, Facultad de Física e Instituto de Materiales
(iMATUS) e Instituto de Investigaciones Sanitarias (IDIS), Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago
de Compostela, Spain
- Grupo
de Biosistemas e Inginería de Bioprocesos, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas (IIM-CSIC), Rúa Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain
| | - João Carneiro
- CEFT—Transport
Phenomena Research Center, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty
of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
- ALiCE—Associate
Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
| | - Gerardo Prieto
- Grupo
de Física de Coloides y Polímeros, Departamento de Física
de Partículas, Facultad de Física e Instituto de Materiales
(iMATUS) e Instituto de Investigaciones Sanitarias (IDIS), Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago
de Compostela, Spain
| | - Pablo Taboada
- Grupo
de Física de Coloides y Polímeros, Departamento de Física
de Partículas, Facultad de Física e Instituto de Materiales
(iMATUS) e Instituto de Investigaciones Sanitarias (IDIS), Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago
de Compostela, Spain
| | - João Moreira de Campos
- CEFT—Transport
Phenomena Research Center, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty
of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
- ALiCE—Associate
Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
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Exploring Nucleation Pathways in Distinct Physicochemical Environments Unveiling Novel Options to Modulate and Optimize Protein Crystallization. CRYSTALS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/cryst12030437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The scientific discussion about classical and nonclassical nucleation theories has lasted for two decades so far. Recently, multiple nucleation pathways and the occurrence and role of metastable intermediates in crystallization processes have attracted increasing attention, following the discovery of functional phase separation, which is now under investigation in different fields of cellular life sciences, providing interesting and novel aspects for conventional crystallization experiments. In this context, more systematic investigations need to be carried out to extend the current knowledge about nucleation processes. In terms of the data we present, a well-studied model protein, glucose isomerase (GI), was employed first to investigate systematically the early stages of the crystallization process, covering condensing and prenucleation ordering of protein molecules in diverse scenarios, including varying ionic and crowding agent conditions, as well as the application of a pulsed electric field (pEF). The main method used to characterize the early events of nucleation was synchronized polarized and depolarized dynamic light scattering (DLS/DDLS), which is capable of collecting the polarized and depolarized component of scattered light from a sample suspension in parallel, thus monitoring the time-resolved evolution of the condensation and geometrical ordering of proteins at the early stages of nucleation. A diffusion interaction parameter, KD, of GI under varying salt conditions was evaluated to discuss how the proportion of specific and non-specific protein–protein interactions affects the nucleation process. The effect of mesoscopic ordered clusters (MOCs) on protein crystallization was explored further by adding different ratios of MOCs induced by a pEF to fresh GI droplets in solution with different PEG concentrations. To emphasize and complement the data and results obtained with GI, a recombinant pyridoxal 5-phosphate (vitamin B6) synthase (Pdx) complex of Staphylococcus aureus assembled from twelve monomers of Pdx1 and twelve monomers of Pdx2 was employed to validate the ability of the pEF influencing the nucleation of complex macromolecules and the effect of MOCs on adjusting the crystallization pathway. In summary, our data revealed multiple nucleation pathways by tuning the proportion of specific and non-specific protein interactions, or by utilizing a pEF which turned out to be efficient to accelerate the nucleation process. Finally, a novel and reproducible experimental strategy, which can adjust and facilitate a crystallization process by pEF-induced MOCs, was summarized and reported for the first time.
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Tuning Transport Phenomena in Agarose Gels for the Control of Protein Nucleation Density and Crystal Form. CRYSTALS 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/cryst11050466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Agarose gels provide the ideal environment for studying the nucleation step of complex biomacromolecules under diffusion-controlled conditions. In the present paper, we characterized the influence of agarose on the nucleation of three model proteins, i.e., lysozyme, insulin, and proteinase K, as a function of the agarose concentration using a batch method set-up inside flat capillaries. By using this set-up, we were able to directly count the number of crystals in a given volume and correlate it with the amount of agarose and with the average crystal size. We also studied the crystallization behavior of proteinase K with free-interface diffusion so that batch conditions were achieved through slow diffusion of the precipitant. Thanks to the control over the protein mass transport imposed by the network, a previously unknown crystal form, P212121, was obtained, and the three-dimensional structure was determined at a 1.6 Å resolution. Overall, the versatility of agarose gels makes them ideal candidates for the preparation of microcrystalline suspensions of biopharmaceuticals with precise and reproducible crystal attributes or for the exploration of the existence of different polymorphs.
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