Activation volume of crystallization and effects of pressure on the three-dimensional nucleation rate of glucose isomerase

The activation volume, V double dagger, of the solute incorporation process at the kink site of a glucose isomerase (GI) crystal was estimated using the pressure dependency of the step kinetic coefficient, step, and the three-dimensional nucleation rates J of GI crystals were analyzed using classical nucleation theory. V double dagger took a negative value. The sticking parameter, s, for the addition of a GI tetramer to a critical nucleus drastically increased with increasing pressure. This was probably due to the decrease in the activation energy needed for the addition of the GI tetramer.