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Equilibrium cluster formation in concentrated protein solutions and colloids

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Stradner

    (University of Fribourg)

  • Helen Sedgwick

    (The University of Edinburgh)

  • Frédéric Cardinaux

    (University of Fribourg)

  • Wilson C. K. Poon

    (The University of Edinburgh)

  • Stefan U. Egelhaaf

    (The University of Edinburgh
    The University of Edinburgh)

  • Peter Schurtenberger

    (University of Fribourg)

Abstract

Controlling interparticle interactions, aggregation and cluster formation is of central importance in a number of areas, ranging from cluster formation in various disease processes to protein crystallography and the production of photonic crystals. Recent developments in the description of the interaction of colloidal particles with short-range attractive potentials have led to interesting findings including metastable liquid–liquid phase separation and the formation of dynamically arrested states (such as the existence of attractive and repulsive glasses, and transient gels)1,2,3,4,5,6,7. The emerging glass paradigm has been successfully applied to complex soft-matter systems, such as colloid–polymer systems8 and concentrated protein solutions9. However, intriguing problems like the frequent occurrence of cluster phases remain10,11,12,13. Here we report small-angle scattering and confocal microscopy investigations of two model systems: protein solutions and colloid–polymer mixtures. We demonstrate that in both systems, a combination of short-range attraction and long-range repulsion results in the formation of small equilibrium clusters. We discuss the relevance of this finding for nucleation processes during protein crystallization, protein or DNA self-assembly and the previously observed formation of cluster and gel phases in colloidal suspensions12,13,14,15,16,17.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Stradner & Helen Sedgwick & Frédéric Cardinaux & Wilson C. K. Poon & Stefan U. Egelhaaf & Peter Schurtenberger, 2004. "Equilibrium cluster formation in concentrated protein solutions and colloids," Nature, Nature, vol. 432(7016), pages 492-495, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:432:y:2004:i:7016:d:10.1038_nature03109
    DOI: 10.1038/nature03109
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    Cited by:

    1. Emmanuel Stiakakis & Niklas Jung & Nataša Adžić & Taras Balandin & Emmanuel Kentzinger & Ulrich Rücker & Ralf Biehl & Jan K. G. Dhont & Ulrich Jonas & Christos N. Likos, 2021. "Self assembling cluster crystals from DNA based dendritic nanostructures," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Sondra S. Teske & Corrella S. Detweiler, 2015. "The Biomechanisms of Metal and Metal-Oxide Nanoparticles’ Interactions with Cells," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-23, January.
    3. Chi Zhang & José Muñetón Díaz & Augustin Muster & Diego R. Abujetas & Luis S. Froufe-Pérez & Frank Scheffold, 2024. "Determining intrinsic potentials and validating optical binding forces between colloidal particles using optical tweezers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.

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