  The influence of the nuclear symmetry energy on the formation of a mixed
quark-nucleon phase in neutron star cores is studied. We use simple
parametrizations of the nuclear matter equation of state, and the bag model for
the quark phase. The behavior of nucleon matter isobars, which is responsible
for the existence of the mixed phase, is investigated. The role of the nuclear
symmetry energy changes with the value of the bag constant B. For lower values
of B the properties of the mixed phase do not depend strongly on the symmetry
energy. For larger B we find that a critical pressure for the first quark
droplets to form is strongly dependent on the nuclear symmetry energy, but the
pressure at which last nucleons disappear is independent of it.
