Interactions measurement is a valuable tool to predict equilibrium phase separation of a desired protein in the presence of unwanted macromolecules. In this study, cross-interactions were measured as the osmotic second virial cross-coefficients (B23 ) for the three binary protein systems involving lysozyme, ovalbumin, and α-amylase in salt solutions (sodium chloride and ammonium sulfate). They were correlated with solubility for the binary protein mixtures. The cross-interaction behavior at different salt concentrations was interpreted by either electrostatic or hydrophobic interaction forces. At low salt concentrations, the protein surface charge dominates cross-interaction behavior as a function of pH. With added ovalbumin, the lysozyme solubility decreased linearly at low salt concentration in sodium chloride and increased at high salt concentration in ammonium sulfate. The B23 value was found to be proportional to the slope of the lysozyme solubility against ovalbumin concentration and the correlation was explained by preferential interaction theory.
Keywords: binary protein mixtures; cross-interactions; osmotic second virial cross-coefficient; protein solubility in mixture.
© 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.