Protein±Protein Interactions in Concentrated Electrolyte Solutions Hofmeister-Series Effects R. A. Curtis,1 J. Ulrich,3 A. Montaser,1 J. M. Prausnitz,1,2 H. W. Blanch1* 1Chemical Engineering Department, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720; telephone:(510) 642-1387; fax:(510) 643-1228; e-mail:
[email protected] 2Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720 3Automatic Control Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH-Z, ETL I 22, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland Received 12 November 2000; accepted 4 July 2001 DOI:10.1002/bit.10342 Abstract: Protein±protein interactions were measured precipitate a target protein is dicult. Protein solubility for ovalbumin and for lysozyme in aqueous salt solu- is governed by many factors, including pH, surface tions. Protein±protein interactions are correlated with a proposed potential of mean force equal to the free en- hydrophobicity, surface-charge distribution, size, salt- ergy to desolvate the protein surface that is made inac- type, and salt concentration (Rothstein, 1994). The goal cessible to the solvent due to the protein±protein of this work is to understand how these factors in¯uence interaction. This energy is calculated from the surface protein solubility. The ®rst step is to determine the in- free energy of the protein that is determined from pro- teractions between the protein molecules, salt ions, and tein±salt preferential-interaction parameter measure- ments. In classical salting-out behavior, the protein±salt water; these interactions, described quantitatively, are preferential interaction is unfavorable. Because addition then used to predict conditions for optimal separation of of salt raises the surface free energy of the protein ac- a mixture of proteins.