Forschungskostenzuschuss-Kinetics and Dynamics of Protein Solutions

01/02/2019 to 31/01/2021

Phase separation in aqueous protein solution is of primary interest in the field of many biological and chemical processes. Strong influence of environmental conditions leads to a rich phase behavior. Multivalent ions have been shown to be very efficient in tuning the protein-protein interactions resulting in an interesting re-entrant condensation behavior. The condensed state features a fascinating liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) which is often intercepted by the glass line. In this proposal our goal is to study the structural kinetics in this regime where LLPS is interrupted by the glass formation and the system eventually reaches the arrested state. We will also investigate the dynamics of protein molecules/aggregates in this regime. We will study the kinetics using ultra small angle x-ray scattering and dynamics using dynamic light scattering, quasi elastic neutron scattering and X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. This study is expected to reveal the interplay between LLPS and glass formation in protein solutions.