title: Diffusion-limited kinetics of the solution-solid phase transition of molecular substances.
abstract: For critical tests of whether diffusion-limited kinetics is an option for the solution-solid phase transition of molecular substances or whether they are determined exclusively by a transition state, we performed crystallization experiments with ferritin and apoferritin, a unique pair of proteins with identical shells but different molecular masses. We find that the kinetic coefficient for crystallization is identical (accuracy <or=7%) for the pair, indicating diffusion-limited kinetics of crystallization. Data on the kinetics of this phase transition in systems ranging from small-molecule ionic to protein and viri suggest that the kinetics of solution-phase transitions for broad classes of small-molecule and protein materials are diffusion-limited.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA.
authors.forename: Dimiter N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Petsev
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gliko
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Vekilov
mesh_terms: D001052:Apoferritins / Q000737:chemistry; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D003460:Crystallization; D004058:Diffusion; D005293:Ferritins / Q000737:chemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D005293:Ferritins; D001052:Apoferritins