Dear members of the community,
I am trying to concentrate silk fibroin to 25 % (w/v). Nevertheless, i am struggling with the concentration step. I successfully achieve concentrations of 5-6 % of silk fibroin in distilled water. However, when I try to concentrate the solution with a dialysis with PEG the solution becomes a gel before reaching the desired concentration. That is why, I lyophilized the silk fibroin and now I would like to dissolve it again with the right amount of water to obtain the 25 % (w/v) solution.
I have tried to mix the lyophilized with the water, but it does not dissolve all the proteins within the water. Someone knows how to enhance this step? Temperature? Agitation?
Thank you very much for your help,
I really think that we are making open science in this space :)
Enric
I suggest vaccum concentration. For a single sample a rotary evaporator may be OK, but be careful of the tumbling action can cause mechanical damage to the sample.
You will see gel formation at a membrane (you get a concentration gradient ... and once it starts to get ... boom!) - a known issue.
I do not have experience of your protein, be sure that 25% is achieveable, for somethings, that's high.
Rob
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