Mesoporous Metal-Organic Frameworks as Effective Nucleating Agents in Protein Crystallography

authors	Leite, JP; Rodrigues, D; Ferreira, S; Figueira, F; Paz, FAA; Gales, L
nationality	International
journal	CRYSTAL GROWTH & DESIGN
keywords	HETEROGENEOUS NUCLEATION; ENZYME IMMOBILIZATION; CRYSTALS; RELEASE; CAGES
abstract	Mesoporous metal-organic frameworks (mesoMOFs) have gained some attention as protein immobilization agents. Herein, and for the first time, three model proteins (lysozyme, trypsin, and albumin) were used to show that crystallization is effectively induced when the protein is immobilized inside the mesoMOF, with this occurring for lysozyme, while trypsin and albumin were size-excluded. It is shown that heterogeneous nucleation is truly remarkable in the case of lysozyme with a strong adhesion to the mesoMOF surface. These findings suggest that the ability to fix the target protein with a molecular-scale periodicity constitutes a significant advantage of mesoMOFs over other nucleating agents.
publisher	AMER CHEMICAL SOC
issn	1528-7483
isbn	1528-7505
year published	2019
volume	19
issue	3
beginning page	1610
ending page	1615
digital object identifier (doi)	10.1021/acs.cgd.8b01444
web of science category	Chemistry, Multidisciplinary; Crystallography; Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
subject category	Chemistry; Crystallography; Materials Science
unique article identifier	WOS:000460996600020