Fig. 10.

Schematic overview of the beneficial effects of POM sizes and shapes. On the left of the figure there are two protein portions shown (green half circles) with a positively charged surface (shown in blue) staying very close to each other and thus leading to sterical clashes (red crosses) and electrostatic repulsion (red bar). This situation will never result in crosslinking of the two regions or the formation of a crystal contact. However, in the presence of a POM, e.g. [TeW₆O₂₄]⁶⁻ Anderson type (shown in ball and stick representation, color code: tellurium atom = brown, tungsten atoms = marine, oxygen atoms = red), the regions are electrostatically crosslinked by the POM and are at the same time far enough apart such that no sterical hindrances are expected. The situation on the right of the figure has the potential to result in a new crystal contact.