Interaction of L-tryptophan with alpha-cyclodextrin: studies with calorimetry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Change in the Kinetic Regime of Aggregation of Yeast Alcohol Dehydrogenase in the Presence of 2-Hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin

Chemical chaperones are low-molecular-weight compounds that suppress protein aggregation. They can influence different stages of the aggregation process-the stage of protein denaturation, the nucleation stage and the stage of aggregate growth-and this may lead to a change in the aggregation kinetic regime. Here, the possibility of changing the kinetic regime in the presence of a chemical chaperone 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (2-HP-β-CD) was investigated for a test system based on the thermally induced aggregation of yeast alcohol dehydrogenase (yADH) at 56 °C. According to differential scanning calorimetry data, 2-HP-β-CD did not affect the stage of the protein molecule unfolding. Dynamic light scattering data indicated changes in the aggregation kinetics of yADH during the nucleation and aggregate growth stages in the presence of the chaperone. The analysis of kinetic curves showed that the order of aggregation with respect to protein (nc), calculated for the stage of aggregate growth, changed from nc = 1 to nc = 2 with the addition of 100 mM 2-HP-β-CD. The mechanism of 2-HP-β-CD action on the yADH thermal aggregation leading to a change in its kinetic regime of aggregation is discussed.

The non-covalent complexes of α- or γ-cyclodextrin with divalent metal cations determined by mass spectrometry

Noncovalent complexes between cyclodextrin (CD) and divalent metal cations drew growing attentions due to their applications in the pharmaceutical industry for molecular recognition. In this study, gas-phase binding of noncovalent complexes between α-, or γ-CD and divalent metal cations was investigated by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), demonstrating the formation of 1:1 stoichiometric noncovalent complexes. The binding of the complexes were furtherly confirmed by collision-induced dissociation (CID) with tandem mass spectrometry. The CID revealed the fragmentation pattern were strongly dependent on the electronic configuration of the cations and the charge separation reaction frequently took place in the cyclodextrin-complexes with transition metal cations. For the non-covalent complexes of α-CD with Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Sr²⁺ or Ba²⁺ at a collision energy of 25 eV, the fragments attributed to [α-CD + cation-nGlucose unit]²⁺ were observed (named series A). However, for the γ-CD complexes with transition metal cations Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺ or Zn²⁺, apart from fragments of series A, it were observed fragment ions of [γ-CD + cation-nGlucose unit]⁺ (named series B), together with the Glucose unit (m/z 163.2) and its products with loss of H₂O (m/z 145.2 and 126.8). The CID performed at a collision energy from 10 to 50 eV showed that the binding strength of complexes increase in the order of [α-CD + Mg]²⁺, [α-CD + Ca]²⁺, [α-CD + Sr]²⁺ and [α-CD + Ba]²⁺. Through mass spectrometric titrations, the values of dissociation constant K_d (in μmol•L^-1) for the complexes of α-CD with Ca²⁺ or Ni²⁺ were obtained, which were 4.30 and 4.26, respectively.

Bitterness of fish protein hydrolysate and its debittering prospects

Fish processing by-products often generated as discard can enzymatically be processed into a product known as fish protein hydrolysates (FPH). FPH is a good source of amino acid and peptides with bioactivities. FPH can be added to foods to improve nutritive values and bioactivities. However, bitterness in FPH, associated with hydrophobicity, degree of hydrolysis, molecular weight, proline residues, type of enzymes, and amino acid sequences has limited its uses in foods. Thus, FPH is used in foods at low levels. Numerous procedures such as extraction with alcohol, activated carbon treatment, Maillard reaction, cyclodextrin, chromatographic separation, and enzymatic hydrolysis with exopeptidase and plastein reaction have been explored to remove the bitterness of FPH. These methods can lower bitterness and improve its taste. However, changes in structure and loss of some peptides may occur. FPH with less or no bitterness can therefore be used at higher levels to alleviate nutrition deficiencies in foods. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Fish protein hydrolysate (FPH) is a nutritive ingredient, which can be produced from fish processing by-products. However, bitterness in FPH has limited its potential use as a nutritive ingredient. As a result, it is incorporated into foods at low levels. Nevertheless, application of several reported debittering processes could assist to solve the problem of bitterness in FPH. The debittering can improve sensory property of FPH, thus widening its utilization.

Influence of the separation of the charged groups and aromatic ring on interaction of tyrosine and phenylalanine analogues and derivatives with β-cyclodextrin

Interactions of tyrosine and phenylalanine analogues with beta-cyclodextrin have been examined in terms of structural features of the ligand such as the separation of the charged amino group and aromatic ring, the presence of additional functional group attached to the amino or phenyl ring, and the presence of a charge on amino or carboxyl group, and steric effects using steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy and microcalorimetry. The studied aromatic amino acids possess low binding constant to beta-cyclodextrin, diversified with respect to the presence or absence of a substituent in para position of the phenyl ring. However, calculated, based on the global analysis of the fluorescence intensity decays, binding constants do not allow to estimate unequivocally the influence of the distance between the charged groups and phenol/phenyl ring on the inclusion complex stability because of their low diversification.

Determination of binding constants of cyclodextrin inclusion complexes with amino acids and dipeptides by potentiometric titration

Cyclodextrins are well known for their ability to separate enantiomers of drugs, natural products, and other chiral substances using HPLC, GC, or CE. The resolution of the enantiomers is due to the formation of diastereomeric complexes between the cyclodextrin and the pairs of enantiomers. The aim of this study was to determine the binding constants of the complexes between alpha- and beta-cyclodextrin and the enantiomers of a series of aliphatic and aromatic amino acids, and dipeptides, using a potentiometric titration method. The results of this method are compared to other methods, and correlated to findings in cyclodextrin-modified capillary electrophoresis and possible complex structures. Potentiometric titration was found to be an appropriate tool to determine the binding constants of cyclodextrin inclusion complexes.

1H NMR studies of maltose, maltoheptaose, alpha-, beta-, and gamma-cyclodextrins, and complexes in aqueous solutions with hydroxy protons as structural probes

The (1)H NMR chemical shifts, coupling constants, temperature coefficients, and exchange rates have been measured for the hydroxy protons of aqueous solutions of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-cyclodextrins, maltose, and maltoheptaose. In cyclodextrins (CDs), the high chemical shift of the O(3)H signal and its small (3)J(OH,CH) value suggest that O(3)H is involved in a hydrogen bond. The small temperature coefficients and rate of exchange values of O(2)H and O(3)H confirm the involvement of O(3)H in hydrogen bonding and indicate that O(2)H is the hydrogen bond partner. In maltose, two distinct NMR signals with two different vicinal coupling constants are found for O(2')H. A cross-peak in the ROESY spectrum indicates chemical exchange between the O(2')H and O(3)H protons. The existence of two distinct NMR signals with different J values for O(2')H shows the influence of anomeric configuration on the O(2')H-O(3)H interaction. The effect of complexation with methyl benzoate, adamantane-1-carboxylic acid, adamantane-1-ol, and l- and d-tryptophane on the NMR spectra of the hydroxy protons of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-cyclodextrins and of maltose has been investigated. No significant spectral changes were observed upon addition of methyl benzoate and adamantane-1-carboxylic acid. The addition of adamantane-1-ol resulted in an upfield shift and a strong broadening of the O(2)H signal from alpha-CD, and a small temperature coefficient was measured upon complexation. The O(2)H and O(3)H signals in beta-CD were broadened and shifted downfield upon addition of l- and d-tryptophane.

A simple way to measure protein refolding rates in water

Refolding of proteins is traditionally carried out either by diluting the denaturant-unfolded protein into buffer (GdmCl-jump) or by mixing the acid-denatured protein with strong buffer (pH-jump). The first method does not allow direct measurement of folding rates in water since the GdmCl cannot be infinitely diluted, and the second method suffers from the limitation that many proteins cannot be pH-denatured. Further, some proteins do not refold reversibly from low pH where they get trapped as aggregation prone intermediates. Here, we present an alternative approach for direct measurement of refolding rates in water, which does not rely on extrapolation. The protein is denatured in SDS, and is then mixed with alpha-cyclodextrin, which rapidly strips SDS molecules from the protein, leaving the naked unfolded protein to refold.