Metal-Assisted And Microwave Accelerated-Evaporative Crystallization (Ma-Maec): An Application To Glutathione Tripeptide
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Date
2016
Department
Chemistry
Program
Master of Science
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This item is made available by Morgan State University for personal, educational, and research purposes in accordance with Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Other uses may require permission from the copyright owner.
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Abstract
Metal-Assisted and Microwave-Accelerated Evaporative Crystallization (MA-MAEC) is an innovative method. MA-MAEC has been introduced as a method used for the rapid crystallization of biological molecules. In previous publication the Aslan Research Group (ARG) has mentioned the elaborate usage of the MA-MAEC technique. The feasibility of the MA-MAEC technique was demonstrated for the crystallization of several amino acids, such as, glycine, alanine, arginine, histidine, and alanine with amino acid additives. The MA-MAEC technique enables for the crystallization of amino acid in a fraction of the time as compared to existing crystallization techniques and allows for control over crystal size distribution. The MA-MAEC technique has the potential to be used in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry. In this study, the feasibility of the MA-MAEC technique was evaluated for a tripeptide, glutathione (GSH), which is an important component in human body. GSH has several biological functions and acts as a major antioxidant produced by the cells in the human body. Rapid crystallization of GSH using the MA-MAEC technique was carried out in circular crystallization platforms (i.e., iCrystal plates) constructed from poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) disks and silver nanoparticle films (SNFs). Initial experiments were carried out to select an appropriate solvent system for the crystallization studies, based on solubility and crystallization potential; according to these experiments sodium acetate was selected to be the best solvent. Five different concentrations of GSH in sodium acetate (up to 500 mg/mL) were studied. Time of crystallization, crystal size, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the GSH crystals. The results demonstrated that the MA-MAEC technique works well for the rapid crystallization of GSH. The crystallization time was reduced by up to 6-fold when compared to control conditions (no microwave heating). In addition, the GSH crystal morphology was similar to morphology reported in the literature.