Protein-Precipitant-Specific Criteria for the Impact of Reduced Gravity on Crystal Perfection

The objective of this research is to provide quantitative criteria for the impact of reduced or enhanced convective transport on protein crystal perfection. Our earlier work strongly suggests that the magnitude of (lattice defect-inducing) fluctuations in the crystallization rate of proteins arise from the coupling of bulk transport and nonlinear interface kinetics. Hence, we surmised that, depending on the relative weight of bulk transport and interface kinetics in the control of the crystallization process on Earth, these fluctuations can either increase or decrease under reduced gravity conditions. The sign and magnitude of these changes depend on the specific protein-precipitant system. As a consequence, space environments can be either beneficial or detrimental for achieving structural perfection in protein crystals. The task objectives consist in systematic investigations of this hypothesis.