The effects of microgravity on protein crystallization: evidence for concentration gradient around growing crystals

摘要

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) investigations have revealed that macromolcular crystals, during their growth, incorporte an extenive array of impurities.These vary from individual molecules to large particles, andmicrocrystls in the micron size range. AFM, along with X-ray topology, hs further shown that the desnity of defects and faults in most macromolecular crystals in very high in comparison with conventional crystals. The high defect density is a consequence of the incorporation of impurities, misoriented nutrient molecules, and aggregates of molecules.