Simple models for charge and salt effects in protein crystallisation

Abstract

A simple extension of existing models for protein crystallisation is described, in which salt ions and charge neutrality are explicitly incorporated. This provides a straightforward explanation for the shape of protein crystallisation boundaries, the associated scaling properties seen for lysozyme, and can also explain much of the salt dependence of the second virial coefficient. The analysis has wider implications for the use of pair potentials to understand protein crystallisation.