In: Physical Review Letters, 2013, vol. 110, no. 5, p. 058303
We show that gels formed by arrested spinodal decomposition of protein solutions exhibit elastic properties in two distinct frequency domains, both elastic moduli exhibiting a remarkably strong dependence on volume fraction. Considering the large difference between the protein size and the characteristic length of the network we model the gels as porous media and show that the high and low...
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In: Soft Matter, 2011, vol. 7, no. 3, p. 857
We examine the applicability of the extended law of corresponding states (ELCS) to equilibrium and non equilibrium features of the state diagram of the globular protein lysozyme. We provide compelling evidence that the ELCS correctly reproduces the location of the binodal for different ionic strengths, but fails in describing the location of the arrest line. We subsequently use Mode Coupling...
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In: Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 2009, vol. 21, p. 322201
Concentrated aqueous solutions of the protein lysozyme undergo a liquid–solid transition upon a temperature quench into the unstable spinodal region below a characteristic arrest temperature of Tf = 15 °C. We use video microscopy and ultra-small angle light scattering in order to investigate the arrested structures as a function of initial concentration, quench temperature...
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In: The Journal of Chemical Physics, 2008, vol. 129, no. 8, p. 085102
We propose a minimal model for spherical proteins with aeolotopic pair interactions to describe the equilibrium phase behavior of lysozyme. The repulsive screened Coulomb interactions between the particles are taken into account assuming that the net charges are smeared out homogeneously over the spherical protein surfaces. We incorporate attractive surface patches, with the interactions between...
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In: Physical Review Letters, 2007, vol. 99, no. 11, p. 118301
We investigate the competition between spinodal decomposition and dynamical arrest using aqueous solutions of the globular protein lysozyme as a model system for colloids with short-range attractions. We show that quenches below a temperature Ta lead to gel formation as a result of a local arrest of the protein-dense phase during spinodal decomposition. The rheological...
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