Effect of mechanical vibration on protein crystallization

Mechanical vibration often occurs during protein crystallization; however, it is seldom considered as one of the factors influencing the crystallization process. This paper reports an investigation of the crystallization of five proteins using various crystallization conditions in a temperature-controlled chamber on the table of a mechanical vibrator. The results show that mechanical vibration can reduce the number of crystals and improve their optical perfection. During screening of the crystallization conditions it was found that mechanical vibration could help to obtain crystals in a highly supersaturated solution in which amorphous precipitates often normally appear. It is concluded that mechanical vibration can serve as a tool for growing optically perfect crystals or for obtaining more crystallization conditions during crystallization screening.