Biopolymer crystallization

Butler, M.F., Glaser, N., Weaver, A.C., Kirkland, M, and Heppenstall-Butler, M "Calcium carbonate crystallization in the presence of biopolymers". Crystal Growth Des. 6(3), 781-794 (2006). 

For synthetic polymer crystallization it is found that lamellar thickness, and hence crystal stability, depends strongly on preparation conditions such as temperature of crystallization and cooling rate. Future studies may indicate similar relationships for these biopolymer crystals. 

Fig. 11.19 In a common implementation of the vapor diffusion method of biopolymer crystallization, a single drop of biopolymer solution hangs above a reservoir solution that is very concentrated in a nonvolatile solute. Solvent evaporates from the more dilute drop until the vapor pressure of water in the closed container reaches a constant equilibrium value.

Protein crystals contain between 25 and 65 vol% water, which is essential for the crystallisation of these biopolymers. A typical value for the water content of protein crystals is 45% according to Matthews et al. l49,150). For this reason it is possible to study the arrangement of water molecules in the hydration-shell by protein-water and water-water interactions near the protein surface, if one can solve the structure of the crystal by X-ray or neutron diffraction to a sufficiently high resolution151 -153). 

Except for biopolymers, most polymer materials are polydisperse and heterogeneous. This is already the case for the length distribution of the chain molecules (molecular mass distribution). It is continued in the polydispersity of crystalline domains (crystal size distribution), and in the heterogeneity of structural entities made from such domains (lamellar stacks, microfibrils). Although this fact is known for long time, its implications on the interpretation and analysis of scattering data are, in general, not adequately considered. 

Examples. 2D SAXS/WAXS experiments on highly anisotropic polymer materials during melting and crystallization can be used to visualize and understand the evolution of nanostructure [56,57], Transformations of biopolymers in solution, e.g., virus crystallization can be studied in situ [58], It is possible to study solidification mechanisms of spider silk [59], or the self-assembly of micelles on a time-scale of milliseconds [60],... 

Anderson, J. P., Cappello.J., and Martin, D. C. (1994). Morphology and primary crystal-structure of a silk-like protein polymer synthesized by genetically-engineered Escherichia-coli bacteria. Biopolymers 34, 1049-1058. 

These schemes have been frequently suggested [105-107] as possible mechanisms to achieve the chirally pure starting point for prebiotic molecular evolution toward our present homochiral biopolymers. Demonstrably successftd amplification mechanisms are the spontaneous resolution of enantiomeric mixtures under race-mizing conditions, [509 lattice-controlled solid-state asymmetric reactions, [108] and other autocatalytic processes. [103, 104] Other experimentally successful mechanisms that have been proposed for chirality amplification are those involving kinetic resolutions [109] enantioselective occlusions of enantiomers on opposite crystal faces, [110] and lyotropic liquid crystals. [Ill] These systems are interesting in themselves but are not of direct prebiotic relevance because of their limited scope and the specialized experimental conditions needed for their implementation. 

Macromolecules are very much like the crystalline powder just described. A few polymers, usually biologically-active natural products like enzymes or proteins, have very specific structure, mass, repeat-unit sequence, and conformational architecture. These biopolymers are the exceptions in polymer chemistry, however. Most synthetic polymers or storage biopolymers are collections of molecules with different numbers of repeat units in the molecule. The individual molecules of a polymer sample thus differ in chain length, mass, and size. The molecular weight of a polymer sample is thus a distributed quantity. This variation in molecular weight amongst molecules in a sample has important implications, since, just as in the crystal dimension example, physical and chemical properties of the polymer sample depend on different measures of the molecular weight distribution. 

In the MALDI technique a pulsed laser beam strikes a solid sample and heats, vaporizes, and ionizes compounds with little decomposition.201-209 Proteins or other biopolymers are mixed with a "matrix" Fiat absorbs the heat of Fie laser beam. The protein sample together with Fie matrix is dried. Most proteins form crystals and Fie laser beam is directed toward individual protein crystals or aggregates. Various materials are used for the matrix. Compounds as simple as glycerol, succinic acid, or urea can be used with an infrared laser. For proteins an ultraviolet nitrogen laser tuned to 337 nm is usually employed with an ultraviolet light-absorbing matrix such as hydroxy-benzoic acid, 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid, a-hydroxy-... 

New techniques for data analysis and improvements in instrumentation have now made it possible to carry out stmctural and conformational studies of biopolymers including proteins, polysaccharides, and nucleic acids. NMR, which may be done on noncrystalline materials in solution, provides a technique complementary to X-ray diffraction, which requires crystals for analysis. One-dimensional NMR, as described to this point, can offer structural data for smaller molecules. But proteins and other biopolymers with large numbers of protons will yield a very crowded spectrum with many overlapping lines. In multidimensional NMR (2-D, 3-D, 4-D), peaks are spread out through two or more axes to improve resolution. The techniques of correlation spectroscopy (COSY), nuclear Overhausser effect spectroscopy (NOESY), and transverse relaxation-optimized spectroscopy (TROSY) depend on the observation that nonequivalent protons interact with each other. By using multiple-pulse techniques, it is possible to perturb one nucleus and observe the effect on the spin states of other nuclei. The availability of powerful computers and Fourier transform (FT) calculations makes it possible to elucidate structures of proteins up to 40,000 daltons in molecular mass and there is future promise for studies on proteins over 100,000... 

Berisio, R., Vitagliano, L., Mazzarella, L., and Zagari, A. (2001). Crystal structure of a collagen-like polypeptide with repeating sequence Pro-Hyp-Gly at 1.4A resolution Implications for collagen hydration. Biopolymers 56, 8-13. 

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