Sequential Proton Loss Electron Transfer in Deactivation of Iron(IV) Binding Protein by Tyrosine Based Food Components

The iron(IV) binding protein ferrylmyoglobin, MbFe(IV)═O, was found to be reduced by tyrosine based food components in aqueous solution through a sequential proton loss electron transfer reaction mechanism without binding to the protein as confirmed by isothermal titration calorimetry. Dopamine and epinephrine are the most efficient food components reducing ferrylmyoglobin to oxymyoglobin, MbFe(II)O₂, and metmyoglobin, MbFe(III), as revealed by multivariate curve resolution alternating least-squares with second order rate constants of 33.6 ± 2.3 L/mol/s (ΔH^⧧ of 19 ± 5 kJ/mol, ΔS^⧧ of -136 ± 18 J/mol K) and 228.9 ± 13.3 L/mol/s (ΔH^⧧ of 110 ± 7 kJ/mol, ΔS^⧧ of 131 ± 25 J/mol K), respectively, at pH 7.4 and 25 °C. The other tyrosine based food components were found to reduce ferrylmyoglobin to metmyoglobin with similar reduction rates at pH 7.4 and 25 °C. These reduction reactions were enhanced by protonation of ferrylmyoglobin and facilitated proton transfer at acidic conditions. Enthalpy-entropy compensation effects were observed for the activation parameters (ΔH^⧧ and ΔS^⧧), indicating the common reaction mechanism. Moreover, principal component analysis combined with heat map were performed to understand the relationship between density functional theory calculated molecular descriptors and kinetic data, which was further modeled by partial least squares for quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis. In addition, a three tyrosine residue containing protein, lysozyme, was also found to be able to reduce ferrylmyoglobin with a second order rate constant of 66 ± 28 L/mol/s as determined by a competitive kinetic method.

Singlet Fission Reaction of Light-Exposed β-Carotene Bound to Bovine Serum Albumin. A Novel Mechanism in Protection of Light-Exposed Tissue by Dietary Carotenoids

We have attempted to investigate the role of carotenoids (Car) in protecting pigment-protein complexes against light-induced degradation. Upon direct photoexcitation of β-carotene (β-Car), nanosecond flash photolysis and femtosecond time-resolved spectroscopy detected a substantial population of triplet states for β-Car aggregates associated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) or dispersed in aqueous phase with 10% tetrahydrofuran (THF), but none were observed for monomeric β-Car in neat THF. The direct photogeneration of triplet states was on the time scale of <1 ps, indicating that the underlying reaction mechanism was singlet fission (SF). Efficient triplet-triplet annihilation in the time regime from picoseconds to microseconds resulted in a <1 μs triplet lifetime for β-Car aggregates, in contrast to a 20 μs lifetime for monomeric β-Car as determined by anthracene-sensitized flash photolysis. The short-lived triplet excitations of β-Car aggregates associated with BSA or dispersed in aqueous phase were found to be insensitive to the presence of oxygen, which are considered to be important for the protection of both protein and carotenoid against light-induced degradation via reaction with oxidative species.

Effect of plant polyphenols on the formation of advanced glycation end products from β-lactoglobulin

Dietary exposure to advanced glycation end products (AGEs) formed from proteins and reducing sugars is of increasing concern to human health. AGEs may form in protein-based powders containing sugars for instant beverages during drying and storage of the product. Chlorogenic acid, a plant phenol characteristic of coffee, was found to protect against the formation of AGEs at a concentration of 50mM during heating of β-lactoglobulin in the presence of glucose as a reducing sugar in 30% aqueous ethanol at 70°C. Epicatechin, a plant phenol characteristic of green tea, had no similar effect for the equivalent concentration of phenol on the formation of AGEs. Immunochemical detection (ELISA) using polyclonal antibodies raised against AGEs showed a dose-dependent effect of protection by chlorogenic acid on AGE formation and is recommended for routine quality control of sugar containing milk-based powders for instant beverages.

Regeneration of β-Carotene from Radical Cation by Eugenol, Isoeugenol, and Clove Oil in the Marcus Theory Inverted Region for Electron Transfer

The rate of regeneration of β-carotene by eugenol from the β-carotene radical cation, an initial bleaching product of β-carotene, was found by laser flash photolysis and transient absorption spectroscopy to be close to the diffusion limit in chloroform/methanol (9:1, v/v), with a second-order rate constant (k₂) of 4.3 × 10⁹ L mol^-1 s^-1 at 23 °C. Isoeugenol, more reducing with a standard reduction potential of 100 mV lower than eugenol, was slower, with k₂ = 7.2 × 10⁸ L mol^-1 s^-1. Regeneration of β-carotene following photobleaching was found 50% more efficient by eugenol, indicating that, for the more reducing isoeugenol, the driving force exceeds the reorganization energy for electron transfer significantly in the Marcus theory inverted region. For eugenol/isoeugenol mixtures and clove oil, kinetic control by the faster eugenol determines the regeneration, with a thermodynamic backup of reduction equivalent through eugenol regeneration by the more reducing isoeugenol for the mixture. Clove oil, accordingly, is a potential protector of provitamin A for use in red palm oils.

Proton-coupled electron transfer promotes the reduction of ferrylmyoglobin by uric acid under physiological conditions

Uric acid prevents the oxidative toxic effects of ferrylmyoglobin during red meat digestion.

Spontaneous supersaturation of calcium citrate from simultaneous isothermal dissolution of sodium citrate and sparingly soluble calcium hydroxycarboxylates in water

Strongly supersaturated homogeneous calcium citrate solutions are formed spontaneously when solid sodium citrate and solid calcium hydroxycarboxylates are dissolved simultaneously in water.

Binding to Bovine Serum Albumin Protects β-Carotene against Oxidative Degradation

Binding to bovine serum albumin (BSA) was found to protect β-carotene (β-Car) dissolved in air-saturated phosphate buffer solution/tetrahydrofuran (9:1, v/v) efficiently against photobleaching resulting from laser flash excitation at 532 nm. From dependence of the relative photobleaching yield upon the BSA concentration, an association constant of Ka = 4.67 × 10(5) L mol(-1) for β-Car binding to BSA was determined at 25 °C. Transient absorption spectroscopy confirmed less bleaching of β-Car on the microsecond time scale in the presence of BSA, while kinetics of triplet-state β-Car was unaffected by the presence of oxygen. The protection of β-Car against this type of reaction seems accordingly to depend upon dissipation of excitation energy from an excited state into the protein matrix. Static quenching of BSA fluorescence by β-Car had a Stern-Volmer constant of Ksv = 2.67 × 10(4) L mol(-1), with ΔH = 17 kJ mol(-1) and ΔS = 142 J mol(-1) K(-1) at 25 °C. Quenching of tryptophan (Trp) fluorescence by β-Car suggests involvement of Trp in binding of β-Car to BSA through hydrophobic interaction, while the lower value for the Stern-Volmer constant Ksv compared to the binding constant, Ka, may indicate involvement of β-Car aggregates. Bound β-Car increased the random coil fraction of BSA at the expense of α-helix, as shown by circular dichroism, affecting the β-Car configuration, as shown by Raman spectroscopy.

Antioxidative and prooxidative effects in food lipids and synergism with α-tocopherol of açaí seed extracts and grape rachis extracts

Extracts of açaí seed and of grape rachis alone or in combination with α-tocopherol were evaluated as antioxidants in (i) bulk soybean oil, (ii) soybean oil liposomes and (iii) soybean-oil/water emulsions. The extracts made with 57% aqueous ethanol showed an antioxidant activity not dependent on concentration for grape rachis extracts and a concentration-dependent prooxidative activity for açaí seed extracts in bulk soybean oil. Both the extracts, however, protected liposome suspensions and oil/water emulsions against lipid oxidation. Synergism was demonstrated when extracts were combined with α-tocopherol, effects explained by the solubility of extract components in the water-phase and of α-tocopherol in the lipid-phase. Phenolic profiling of the extracts by U-HPLC-ESI-LTQ-MS was used to identify active antioxidants. Açaí seed and grape rachis extracts served as good sources of procyanidins and flavan-3-ols, imparted high antioxidant activity especially when combined with α-tocopherol and are suggested for protection of food oil/water emulsions.

Iron(II) Initiation of Lipid and Protein Oxidation in Pork: The Role of Oxymyoglobin

Iron(II), added as FeSO4·7H2O, was found to increase the rate of oxygen depletion as detected electrochemically in a pork homogenate from Longissimus dorsi through an initial increase in metmyoglobin formation from oxymyoglobin and followed by formation of primary and secondary lipid oxidation products and protein oxidation as detected as thiol depletion in myofibrillar proteins. Without added iron(II), under the same conditions at 37 °C, oxygen consumption corresponded solely to the slow oxymyoglobin autoxidation. Long-lived myofibrillar protein radicals as detected by ESR spectroscopy in the presence of iron(II) were formed subsequently to oxymyoglobin oxidation, and their level was increased by lipid oxidation when oxygen was completely depleted. Similarly, the time profile for formation of lipid peroxide indicated that oxymyoglobin oxidation initiates both protein oxidation and lipid oxidation.

Calcium Binding to Amino Acids and Small Glycine Peptides in Aqueous Solution: Toward Peptide Design for Better Calcium Bioavailability

Deprotonation of amino acids as occurs during transfer from stomach to intestines during food digestion was found by comparison of complex formation constants as determined electrochemically for increasing pH to increase calcium binding (i) by a factor of around 6 for the neutral amino acids, (ii) by a factor of around 4 for anions of the acidic amino acids aspartic and glutamic acid, and (iii) by a factor of around 5.5 for basic amino acids. Optimized structures of the 1:1 complexes and ΔHbinding for calcium binding as calculated by density functional theory (DFT) confirmed in all complexes a stronger calcium binding and shorter calcium-oxygen bond length in the deprotonated form. In addition, the stronger calcium binding was also accompanied by a binding site shift from carboxylate binding to chelation by α-amino group and carboxylate oxygen for leucine, aspartate, glutamate, alanine, and asparagine. For binary amino acid mixtures, the calcium-binding constant was close to the predicted geometric mean of the individual amino acid binding constants indicating separate binding of calcium to two amino acids when present together in solution. At high pH, corresponding to conditions for calcium absorption, the binding affinity increased in the order Lys < Arg < Cys < Gln < Gly ∼ Ala < Asn < His < Leu < Glu< Asp. In a series of glycine peptides, calcium-binding affinity was found to increase in the order Gly-Leu ∼ Gly-Gly < Ala-Gly < Gly-His ∼ Gly-Lys-Gly < Glu-Cys-Gly < Gly-Glu, an ordering confirmed by DFT calculations for the dipeptides and which also accounted for large synergistic effects in calcium binding for up to 6 kJ/mol when compared to the corresponding amino acid mixtures.

Calcium d-Saccharate: Aqueous Solubility, Complex Formation, and Stabilization of Supersaturation

Molar conductivity of saturated aqueous solutions of calcium d-saccharate, used as a stabilizer of beverages fortified with calcium d-gluconate, increases strongly upon dilution, indicating complex formation between calcium and d-saccharate ions, for which, at 25 °C, Kassoc = 1032 ± 80, ΔHassoc° = −34 ± 6 kJ mol–1, and ΔSassoc° = −55 ± 9 J mol–1 K–1, were determined electrochemically. Calcium d-saccharate is sparingly soluble, with a solubility product, Ksp, of (6.17 ± 0.32) × 10–7 at 25 °C, only moderately increasing with the temperature: ΔHsol° = 48 ± 2 kJ mol–1, and ΔSassoc° = 42 ± 7 J mol–1 K–1. Equilibria in supersaturated solutions of calcium d-saccharate seem only to adjust slowly, as seen from calcium activity measurements in calcium d-saccharate solutions made supersaturated by cooling. Solutions formed by isothermal dissolution of calcium d-gluconate in aqueous potassium d-saccharate becomes spontaneously supersaturated with both d-gluconate and d-saccharate calcium salts, from which only calcium d-saccharate slowly precipitates. Calcium d-saccharate is suggested to act as a stabilizer of supersaturated solutions of other calcium hydroxycarboxylates with endothermic complex formation through a heat-induced shift in calcium complex distribution with slow equilibration upon cooling.

pH dependent antioxidant activity of lettuce (L. sativa) and synergism with added phenolic antioxidants

Influence of pH on the antioxidant activities of combinations of lettuce extract (LE) with quercetin (QC), green tea extract (GTE) or grape seed extract (GSE) was investigated for both reduction of Fremy's salt in aqueous solution using direct electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy and in L-α-phosphatidylcholine liposome peroxidation assay measured following formation of conjugated dienes. All examined phenolic antioxidants showed increasing radical scavenging effect with increasing pH values by using both methods. QC, GTE and GSE acted synergistically in combination with LE against oxidation of peroxidating liposomes and with QC showing the largest effect. The pH dependent increase of the antioxidant activity of the phenols is due to an increase of their electron-donating ability upon deprotonation and to their stabilization in alkaline solutions leading to polymerization reaction. Such polymerization reactions of polyphenolic antioxidants can form new oxidizable -OH moieties in their polymeric products resulting in a higher radical scavenging activity.

Competitive kinetics as a tool to determine rate constants for reduction of ferrylmyoglobin by food components

Competitive kinetics were applied as a tool to determine apparent rate constants for the reduction of hypervalent haem pigment ferrylmyoglobin (MbFe(IV)O) by proteins and phenols in aqueous solution of pH 7.4 and I=1.0 at 25°C. Reduction of MbFe(IV)O by a myofibrillar protein isolate (MPI) from pork resulted in kMPI=2.2 ± 0.1 × 10(4)M(-1)s(-1). Blocking of the protein thiol groups on the MPI by N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) markedly reduced this rate constant to kMPI-NEM=1.3 ± 0.4 × 10(3)M(-1)s(-1) consistent with a key role for the Cys residues on MPI as targets for haem protein-mediated oxidation. This approach allows determination of apparent rate constants for the oxidation of proteins by haem proteins of relevance to food oxidation and should be applicable to other systems. A similar approach has provided approximate apparent rate constants for the reduction of MbFe(IV)O by catechin and green tea extracts, though possible confounding reactions need to be considered. These kinetic data suggest that small molar excesses of some plant extracts relative to the MPI thiol concentration should afford significant protection against MbFe(IV)O-mediated oxidation.

Astaxanthin Protecting Membrane Integrity against Photosensitized Oxidation through Synergism with Other Carotenoids

Incorporation of astaxanthin or zeaxanthin in giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) of phosphatidylcholine resulted in a longer lag phase than incorporation of β-carotene or lycopene for the onset of budding induced by chlorophyll a photosensitization and quantified by a dimensionless entropy parameter using optical microscopy and digital image heterogeneity analysis. The lowest initial rate of GUV budding after the lag phase was seen for GUVs with astaxanthin as the least reducing carotenoid, while the lowest final level of entropy appeared for those with lycopene or β-carotene as a more reducing carotenoid. The combination of astaxanthin and lycopene gave optimal protection against budding with respect to both a longer lag phase and lower final level of entropy by combining good electron acceptance and good electron donation. Quenching of singlet oxygen by carotenoids close to chlorophyll a in the membrane interior in parallel with scavenging of superoxide radicals by astaxanthin anchored in the surface may explain the synergism between carotenoids involving both type I and type II photosensitization by chlorophyll a.

Influence of the Oxidation States of 4-Methylcatechol and Catechin on the Oxidative Stability of β-Lactoglobulin

Chemical interactions between proteins and phenols affect the overall oxidative stability of a given biological system. To investigate the effect of protein-phenol adduct formation on the oxidative stability of β-lactoglobulin (β-LG), the protein was left to react with an equimolar concentration of 4-methylcatechol (4MC), catechin (Cat), or their respective quinone forms, 4-methylbenzoquinone (4MBQ) and catechin-quinone (CatQ), and subsequently subjected to metal-catalyzed oxidation by Fe(II)/H2O2 for 20 days at 37 °C. The reaction with 4MBQ resulted in 60% thiol loss and 22% loss of amino groups, whereas the addition of 4MC resulted in 12% thiol loss. The reaction with Cat or CatQ resulted in no apparent modification of β-LG. The oxidative stability of β-LG after reaction with each of 4MC, 4MBQ, Cat, or CatQ was impaired. Especially 4MC and 4MBQ were found to be pro-oxidative toward α-aminoadipic semialdehyde and γ-glutamic semialdehyde formation as well as the generation of fluorescent Schiff base products. The changes observed were ascribed to the redirection of oxidation as a result of the blocking of thiol groups but also to the oxidative deamination pathway, accelerating the production of semialdehydes and subsequently Schiff base structures.