Protein crystallization growth mechanisms

The lipidic cubic phase has recently been demonstrated as a new system in which to crystallize membrane proteins [143, 144], and several examples [143, 145, 146] have been reported. The molecular mechanism for such crystallization is not yet clear, but the interfacial water and transport are believed to play an important role in nucleation and crystal growth [146, 147], Using a related model system of reverse micelles, drastic differences in water behavior were observed both experimentally [112, 127, 128, 133-135] and theoretically [117, 148, 149]. In contrast to the ultrafast motions of bulk water that occurs in less than several picoseconds, significantly slower water dynamics were observed in hundreds of picoseconds, which indicates a well-ordered water structure in these confinements. 

Two proposals have been made for the mechanism of oxidation of apoferritin-bound Fe. In the crystal growth model, the bulk of the Fe is oxidized to Fe(0)(0H) on the surface of the growing crystallite." " It is initiated at catalytic sites on the interior surface of the protein. There is evidence that the mechanism of iron uptake by ferritin changes after the initial uptake. Initial uptake occurs more effectively with O2 as the oxidizing agent, but in the latter stages O2 and KIO3 are equally effective. 

Mechanism of Crystal Growth of Protein Differential Scanning Calorimetry of Thermolysin Crystal Suspension... 

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