Summary: Methods 34 (2004) 266272
1046-2023/$ - see front matter 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Protein crystallization and phase diagrams
Department of Physics, Center for Materials Science and Engineering and Materials Processing Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA
Accepted 24 March 2004
The phase diagram is a map which represents the state of a material (e.g., solid and liquid) as a function of the ambient condi-
tions (e.g., temperature and concentration). It is therefore a useful tool in processing many diVerent classes of materials. In this arti-
cle, methods to determine the phase diagram of an aqueous solution of a globular protein are described, focusing on the solid
(crystal) and condensed liquid states. The use of the information contained in the phase diagram for protein crystallization is also
2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Protein crystals; Liquidliquid phase separation; Phase diagrams; Cloud-point method; Solubility
A protein will stay in solution only up to a certain
concentration. Once this limiting concentration is