Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels
are highly biocompatible
materials extensively used for biomedical and pharmaceutical
applications, controlled drug release, and tissue engineering. In
this work, PEG cross-linked hydrogels, synthesized under various conditions,
were used to grow lysozyme crystals by the counterdiffusion
technique. Crystallization experiments were conducted using a three-layer
arrangement. Results demonstrated that PEG fibers were incorporated
within lysozyme crystals controlling the final crystal shape. PEG
hydrogels also induced the nucleation of lysozyme crystals to a higher
extent than agarose. PEG hydrogels can also be used at higher concentrations
(20–50% w/w) as a separation chamber (plug) in counterdiffusion
experiments. In this case, PEG hydrogels control the diffusion of
the crystallization agent and therefore may be used to tailor the
supersaturation to fine-tune crystal size. As an example, insulin
crystals were grown in 10% (w/w) PEG hydrogel. The resulting crystals
were of an approximate size of 500 μm.
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