Summary: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
Vol. 93, pp. 377­382, January 1996
Biophysics
Phase separation in aqueous solutions of lens -crystallins:
Special role of s
(ternary mixture cataract)
CANWEN LIU, NEER ASHERIE, ALEKSEY LOMAKIN, JAYANTI PANDE, OLUTAYO OGUN, AND GEORGE B. BENEDEK*
Department of Physics, and Center for Materials Sciences and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
Contributed by George B. Benedek, September 30, 1995
ABSTRACT We have studied liquid­liquid phase separa-
tion in aqueous ternary solutions of calf lens -crystallin
proteins. Specifically, we have examined two ternary systems
containing s--namely, IVa with s in water and II with s
in water. For each system, the phase-separation temperatures
(Tph( )) as a function of the overall protein volume fraction
at various fixed compositions (the ``cloud-point curves'')
were measured. For the IVa, s, and water ternary solution,
a binodal curve composed of pairs of coexisting points, ( I
,
I

Source: Asherie, Neer - Departments of Physics & Biology, Yeshiva University
Benedek, George B. - Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Collections: Biology and Medicine; Physics