Correlation of second virial coefficients and solubilities useful in protein crystal growth

The osmotic second virial coefficient, B, is a dilute solution parameter, s o one may wonder what relationships exist among B and the many facets of pr otein crystal growth (PCG). In particular, knowledge of how a protein's sol ubility (S) depends on solution variables such as temperature, pH and ionic strength is very useful for finding optimum conditions for the PCG experim ent. In this work, a correlation between the second virial coefficient and protein solubility is shown for ovalbumin and lysozyme solutions. The data presented suggest significant correlation between B and S as a function of crystallizing salt type and concentration, pH and temperature. The data are presented both in graphical and tabular form so that it maybe useful to re searchers desiring to develop and test detailed models for protein interact ions. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.