| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/N36981/01 |
| Title: |
SURFACE TENSION AND NUCLEATION OF GLOBULAR PROTEINS |
| Principal Investigator: |
Sear, Dr R |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Physics |
| Organisation: |
University of Surrey |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
08 November 2000 |
Ends: |
07 April 2002 |
Value (£): |
51,645
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Complex fluids & soft solids |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Life relies on the chemistry of proteins; this chemistry is determined by fine details of the structure of the protein. Currently, by far the best way to determine this structure is via X-ray crystallography. This requires crystals of the protein which are typically hard or impossible to produce. The experimental evidence is that when crystallisation does occur it does so from a metastable fluid phase near the critical point of a metastable vapour-liquid-like transition. The proposed research will examine the variation of the surface tension , which controls the nucleation rate , near such a metastable critical point. The theory used will be a simple van-der-Waals-Cahn-Hilliard theory which shows most clearly the universal aspects of the surface tension near a metastable critical point. First the tension of a flat interface will be calculated and then that of the interface between the curved and finite nucleus, and the surrounding fluid.Keywords describing areas of proposalprotein crystallisation, surface tension, nucleation
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.surrey.ac.uk |