Temperature controlled protein crystal growth in gel medium

The purpose of this project was to grow hen egg-white lysozyme crystals in agarose gel medium using temperature as a controlling parameter.; A new technique called the Gel-Capillary Crystal Growth Technique (GCCGT) was devised during this study. Diffraction data was collected from experiments set up with GCCGT and Hanging Drop Technique (HDT). Crystals grown using GCCGT were larger and diffracted better compared to crystals grown using HDT. The density of the gel was inversely proportional to either the rate of crystal formation, crystal size or crystal number.; A completely automated system called Temperature Controlled Protein Crystal Growth (TCPCG) apparatus will be presented. This apparatus was designed to control the temperature of the lysozyme crystal growth in agarose medium. Crystals obtained from controlled gel grew slower and larger, as statistics reveal at a 99% confidence level. Observations obtained from this system support the theory that controlling the temperature of crystals in a gel medium results in formation of larger crystals in slower growth rate and in a lower occurrence of sharing of crystal faces. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...