High temperature crystallization of lysozyme: An example of phase transition

Detection of new temperature-dependent conformational transition in lysozyme by carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

“…Typical examples of temperature-dependent crystallization are yeast fatty acid synthetase (1), the Fab' Fragment from mouse IgA myeloma protein (2) and duck egg-white lysozyme 11 (3). The case of hen egg-white lysozyme has been extensively investigated over the past 2 years (4)(5)(6). It has been demonstrated that hen egg-white lysozyme crystals can be obtained between 250C and 60'C.…”

On the binding of N‐acetylglucosamine and its short polymers to hen lysozyme at physiological temperature (40°C)

“…At 40°C (physiological temperature for birds), the inhibition constants K i were 2-3 times higher than at 20°C (table 1 and fig.2 and 3). Moreover fig.2 and 3 show a change of slope of the line T vs. K i at a temperature quite similar to that at which A crystals convert into the B form [1 ] and a confor- mational transition occurs in solution [3]. The temperature-dependent conformational transition of lysozyme does not seem to have an effect on its behaviour towards the high molecular bacterial substrate; indeed it is well known that it is lvsed more rapidly at 37°C or 40°C than at 20°C.…”

“…We have demonstrated that hen lysozyme (EC 3.2.1.17) crystals can be obtained between 25 and 60°C [1]. These high temperature crystals which we called form B are orthorhombic while the classical crystals obtained between -36 and 25°C are tetragonal (form A) [1,2].…”

“…These high temperature crystals which we called form B are orthorhombic while the classical crystals obtained between -36 and 25°C are tetragonal (form A) [1,2]. A crystals can convert into B crystals under the sole influence of temperature regardless of pH, ionic strength, protein concentration or nature of the precipitating salt; the only requirement for this transition to occur is the presence of the liquid phase [2].…”

The Study of Crystallization of Estrogenic 17β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase with DHEA and DHT at Elevated Temperature

“…However, a few examples were found in the literature. In the case of lysozyme crystallization, two crystal forms were grown at two different temperatures (10). A tetragonal form was obtained in the presence of NaCl at pH 4.5 at room temperature, while an orthorhombic form was grown at 28°C with the same crystallization solution, thus indicating the important role of temperature on protein crystallization.…”