Modeling equilibrium clusters in lysozyme solutions

Cardinaux, Frédéric; Stradner, Anna; Schurtenberger, Peter; Sciortino, F.; Zaccarelli, E.

doi:10.1209/0295-5075/77/48004

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Journal article

Modeling equilibrium clusters in lysozyme solutions

Cardinaux, Frédéric Department of Physics, University of Fribourg, Switzerland - Current address: Physik der weichen Materie, IPkM, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Germany
Stradner, Anna Department of Physics, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Schurtenberger, Peter Department of Physics, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Sciortino, F. Dipartimento di Fisica and CNR-INFM-SOFT, Università di Roma La Sapienza - Rome, Italy
Zaccarelli, E. Dipartimento di Fisica and CNR-INFM-SOFT, Università di Roma La Sapienza - Rome, Italy

09.02.2007

Published in:

Europhysics Letters. - 2007, vol. 77, no. 4, p. 48004

Computer simulation of liquid structure

English We present a combined experimental and numerical study of the equilibrium cluster formation in globular-protein solutions under no-added salt conditions. We show that a cluster phase emerges as a result of a competition between a long-range screened Coulomb repulsion and a short-range attraction. A simple effective potential, in which electrostatic repulsion is fixed by experimental conditions and attraction is modeled with a generalized Lennard-Jones potential, accounts in a remarkable way for the wavevector dependence of the X-ray scattering structure factor.

Faculty

Faculté des sciences et de médecine

Department

Département de Physique

Language