期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2010
卷号：107
期号：30
页码：13282-13287
DOI：10.1073/pnas.1008353107
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：We have experimentally determined the coexistence surface characterizing the phase behavior of {gamma}D-{beta}B1-water ternary solutions. The coexistence surface fully describes the solution conditions, i.e., temperature, protein concentration, and protein composition, at which liquid-liquid phase separation occurs in a ternary solution. We have observed a significant demixing of {gamma}D and {beta}B1 i.e., large difference of composition in the two coexisting phases. This demixing suggests that the energy of the {gamma}D-{beta}B1 attractive interaction is significantly smaller than the energy of the {gamma}D-{gamma}D attractive interaction. We also observed the lowering of the phase separation temperature upon increasing of the fraction of {beta}B1 in solution. We provide a theoretical analysis of our experimental data, which enables a quantitative description of our principal experimental findings. In this way, we have evaluated the magnitude and temperature dependence of the relevant interprotein interaction energies. Our findings provide insight into the factors essential for maintaining lens proteins in a single homogeneous phase, thereby enabling lens transparency.
