Hofmeister effects of ionic liquids in protein crystallization: Direct and water-mediated interactions

Abstract

We have performed experiments on the crystallization of two low molecular weight, positively charged proteins, lysozyme and ribonuclease A, using ionic liquids as either crystallization additives or, in particular cases, as precipitating agents. The ionic liquids (ILs) have been ordered according to their salting-in/out ability and the relative position of these ionic liquids in this ranking has been rationalized by considering their hydration properties (positive–negative, hydrophobic–hydrophilic). The ability to screen the effective charge of cationic proteins and aid protein nucleation (salting-out) has been shown to be superior for large polarizable anions with low charge density, negatively hydrated-Cl⁻, Br⁻, [SCN]⁻, methane-[C₁SO₃]⁻ and ethanesulfonates [C₂SO₃]⁻, than for anions with a relatively stable hydration shell, positively hydrated-lactate [Lac]⁻, butylsulfonate [C₄SO₃]⁻ and acetate [Ac]⁻. Upon increasing the background salt concentration, where electrostatic interactions are already effectively screened, the ability of the IL ions to stabilize proteins in solution (salting-in) has been shown to increase as the ions are likely to migrate to the non-polar protein surface and lower protein–water interfacial tension. This tendency is enhanced as the focus moves from those ions with positively hydrated hydrophilic compartments (e.g. [Ac]⁻) to those with negatively hydrated groups (e.g. [C₁SO₃]⁻) and the prevailing hydrophobic hydration (e.g. [C₄SO₃]⁻). The observed inversion in the relative effect of ILs on protein crystallization with increasing ionic strength of the aqueous media has been interpreted as the differing effects of ion adsorption: charge screening and interfacial tension modification. Moreover, this work can further help in our understanding of the influence of ionic liquids on conformational changes of biomacromolecules in solution. Identification of the specific incorporation sites for choline and acetate ions, localized in two lysozyme crystals grown in pure IL solutions without any buffer or inorganic precipitant, can give us some insight into the role of the ionic liquid ions in protein structure development.