First Direct Observation of Impurity Effects on the Growth Rate of Tetragonal Lysozyme Crystals under Microgravity as Measured by Interferometry

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  • Yoshihisa Suzuki
    Institute of Technology and Science, Tokushima University, 2-1 Minamijosanjima, Tokushima 770-8506, Japan
  • Katsuo Tsukamoto
    Tohoku University, Aramaki, Aoba, Sendai 980-8560, Japan
  • Izumi Yoshizaki
    Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), 2-1-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8505, Japan
  • Hitoshi Miura
    Nagoya City University, 1 Yamanohata, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8501, Japan
  • Takahisa Fujiwara
    Institute of Socio-Arts and Sciences, Tokushima University, 1-1 Minamijosanjima, Tokushima 770-8502, Japan

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The normal growth rates R and apparent step velocities (lateral growth rates of a spiral hillock) V of tetragonal hen egg-white lysozyme (HEWL) crystals were for the first time measured by Michelson interferometry in the international space station (as part of the NanoStep project) using commercialized HEWL samples containing 1.5% impurities. A significant increase in V under microgravity was confirmed compared to step velocities Vstep on the ground, while a decrease in R was also confirmed compared to that in the purified solution under microgravity as expected. Because of exact measurement of growth rates, kinetic analyses of R were conducted as a function of supersaturation, σ (σ ≡ ln(C/Ce), where C is the concentration; Ce is the solubility), using a spiral growth model and a two-dimensional (2D) nucleation growth model. For both models over a wide range of σ, R in the impure solution was significantly lower than that in the purified solution. The degree of the suppression of impurity effects was also...

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