Kinetics of Lysozyme Crystallization From Solution

Abstract

We suggest that the growth of molecular aggregates is the rate-controlling step in the crystallization of lysozyme from pH buffered aqueous solutions of strong electrolytes. We propose that the aggregation reaction passes through a charged transition state whose rate of formation is accelerated by Debye-Huckel screening and whose charge is stabilized by ion exchange with the solution. Applying the theory of the “primary kinetic salt effect”, we predict that the half-life for decay of the lysozyme concentration in solution in contact with a growing crystal should decrease linearly with the square root of the ionic strength. This prediction is confirmed experimentally in the case of lysozyme crystals precipitating at 4°C from pH buffered aqueous solutions of sodium chloride.