Engineering topics

Meehan, Edward J.

Publications and source records attributed to Meehan, Edward J..

4 records

NASA NTRS1990

Nucleation and growth control in protein crystallization

The five topics summarized in this final report are as follows: (1) a technique for the expedient, semi-automated determination of protein solubilities as a function of temperature and application of this technique to proteins other than lysozyme; (2) a small solution cell with adjustable temperature gradients for the growth of proteins at a predetermined location through temperature programming; (3) a microscopy system with image storage and processing capability for high resolution optical studies of temperature controlled protein growth and etching kinetics; (4) growth experiments with lysozyme in thermosyphon flow ; and (5) a mathematical model for the evolution of evaporation/diffusion induced concentration gradients in the hanging drop protein crystallization technique.

Rosenberger, Franz↗

NASA NTRS1988

Control of nucleation and growth in protein crystal growth

The potential advantages of nucleation and growth control through temperature, rather than the addition of precipitants or removal of solvent, are discussed. A simple light scattering arrangement for the characterization of nucleation and growth conditions in solutions is described. The temperature dependence of the solubility of low ionic strength lysozyme solutions is applied in preliminary nucleation and growth experiments.

Rosenberger, Franz↗

NASA NTRS1988

The solubility of hen egg-white lysozyme

The equilibrium solubility of chicken egg-white lysozyme in the presence of crystalline solid state was determined as a function of NaCl concentration, pH, and temperature. The solubility curves obtained represent a region of the lysozyme phase diagram. This diagram makes it possible to determine the supersaturation of a given set of conditions or to achieve identical supersaturations by different combinations of parameters. The temperature dependence of the solubility permits the evaluation of Delta-H of crystallization. The data indicate a negative heat of crystallization for the tetragonal crystal form but a positive heat of crystallization for the high-temperature orthorhombic form.

Howard, Sandra B.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Experimental and theoretical analysis of the rate of solvent equilibration in the hanging drop method of protein crystal growth

The principles of the hanging-drop method of crystal growth are discussed, and the rate of water evaporation in a water droplet (containing protein, buffer, and a precipitating agent) suspended above a well containing a double concentration of precipitating agent is investigated theoretically. It is shown that, on earth, the rate of evaporation may be determined from diffusion theory and the colligative properties of solutions. The parameters affecting the rate of evaporation include the temperature, the vapor pressure of water, the ionization constant of the salt, the volume of the drop, the contact angle between the droplet and the coverslip, the number of moles of salt in the droplet, the number of moles of water and salt in the well, the molar volumes of water and salt, the distance from the droplet to the well, and the coefficient of diffusion of water vapor through air. To test the theoretical equations, hanging-drop experiments were conducted using various reagent concentrations in 25-microliter droplets and measuring the evaporation times at 4 C and 25 C. The results showed good agreement with the theory.

Fowlis, William W.↗