Novel functional per-fluorinated membranes: suitable nucleating systems for protein crystallization

Membranes working as nucleating heterogeneous phases for protein crystallization were tailored. Perfluorinated membranes were functionalised by anchoring amphiphilic sulfonamides onto the membrane surface, resulting in enhanced affinity to protein solutions. Although the amount of the sulphonamide moieties raised, the surface character maintained highly hydrophobic proprieties. The increase in interactive sites on the surface promoted rising adhesion of the protein solution, reducing time of the nucleation induction and rate of the crystal growth. As results, the reactive membranes produced massive nucleation, while small protein crystals were uniformly modulated for size, shape and distribution.

In the membrane crystallization process the nucleation step can be controlled, contributing to the kinetics of the crystals growth. Size, shape and distribution of the protein crystals can easily be modulated with short time, varying the