Macromolecular crystallization using hydrophobic membranes

In spite of the great importance of protein science both in industrial and scientific field, growth of protein crystals is the most serious bottleneck for studying molecular structure. Many macromolecules are reluctant to crystallize and, usually, their crystalline arrangement is not good enough to provide diffraction data at a resolution sufficient to establish structure-function correlation. The history of macromolecular crystallization emphasises the importance of new observations and ideas that are useful in initiating more systematic studies using novel techniques and creative approaches. On this basis an innovative methodology, the membrane crystallization, has been introduced in order to promote the formation of macromolecular crystals. Our preliminary study on model protein as lysozyme has offered encouraging results.