Seeded isothermal batch crystallization of lysozyme.

ABSTRACT

The kinetics of lysozyme crystallization under seeded isothermal batch conditions was followed by measurement of the decline in solution concentration versus time. Kinetics were measured for five different values of the seed crystal mass. The data were analyzed using a recently proposed mathematical model. For each seed mass, the model fit the kinetic data well. Growth rate constants determined using the model were approximately constant over a sixfold increase in the seed crystal mass, and fell well within the range of values reported in the literature, but obtained using entirely different experimental techniques. These results confirmed the utility of the proposed model. The proposed model can be used to analyze crystallization kinetics using absorbance measurements only, without the need to characterize the crystal size, thus avoiding the need for expensive laser light scattering and digital microscopy instrumentation. Thus, the model offers a low-cost straightforward method to analyze and simulate the effects of changes in operating parameters such as the seed crystal mass, solution volume, initial protein concentration, pH, temperature, salt concentration, and time.