Microscopic model of protein crystal growth

Abstract

A microscopic, reversible model to study protein crystal nucleation and growth is presented. The probability of monomer attachment to the growing crystal was assumed to be proportional to the protein volume fraction and the orientational factor representing the anisotropy of protein molecules. The rate of detachment depended on the free energy of association of the given monomer in the lattice, as calculated from the buried surface area. The proposed algorithm allowed the simulation of the process of crystal growth from free monomers to complexes having 10 5 molecules, i.e. microcrystals with already formed faces. These simulations correctly reproduced the crystal morphology of the chosen model system — the tetragonal lysozyme crystal. We predicted the critical size, after which the growth rate rapidly increased to approximately 50 protein monomers. The major factors determining the protein crystallisation kinetics were the geometry of the protein molecules and the resulting number of kinetics traps on the growth pathway.