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Patel CK, Rani C, Kumar R, Mukherjee TK. Macromolecular Crowding Promotes Re-entrant Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation of Human Serum Transferrin and Prevents Surface-Induced Fibrillation. Biomacromolecules 2023; 24:3917-3928. [PMID: 37503577 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Protein aggregation and inactivation upon surface immobilization are major limiting factors for analytical applications in biotechnology-related fields. Protein immobilization on solid surfaces often requires multi-step surface passivation, which is time-consuming and inefficient. Herein, we have discovered that biomolecular condensates of biologically active human serum transferrin (Tf) can effectively prevent surface-induced fibrillation and preserve the native-like conformation of phase-separated Tf over a period of 30 days. It has been observed that macromolecular crowding promotes homotypic liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of Tf through enthalpically driven multivalent hydrophobic interactions possibly via the involvement of its low-complexity domain (residues 3-20) containing hydrophobic amino acids. The present LLPS of Tf is a rare example of salt-mediated re-entrant phase separation in a broad range of salt concentrations (0-3 M) solely via the involvement of hydrophobic interactions. Notably, no liquid-to-solid-like phase transition has been observed over a period of 30 days, suggesting the intact conformational integrity of phase-separated Tf, as revealed from single droplet Raman, circular dichroism, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements. More importantly, we discovered that the phase-separated condensates of Tf completely inhibit the surface-induced fibrillation of Tf, illustrating the protective role of these liquid-like condensates against denaturation and aggregation of biomolecules. The cell mimicking compact aqueous compartments of biomolecular condensates with a substantial amount of interfacial water preserve the structure and functionality of Tf. Our present study highlights an important functional aspect of biologically active protein condensates and may have wide-ranging implications in cell physiology and biotechnological applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chinmaya Kumar Patel
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore, Simrol, Indore 453552, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Chanchal Rani
- Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore, Simrol, Indore 453552, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Rajesh Kumar
- Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore, Simrol, Indore 453552, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Tushar Kanti Mukherjee
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore, Simrol, Indore 453552, Madhya Pradesh, India
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Chilom CG, Sandu N, Iftimie S, Bălăşoiu M, Rogachev A, Orelovich O, Stolyar S. Interactions of Chemically Synthesized Ferrihydrite Nanoparticles with Human Serum Transferrin: Insights from Fluorescence Spectroscopic Studies. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22137034. [PMID: 34210014 PMCID: PMC8268179 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22137034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Revised: 06/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Human serum transferrin (HST) is a glycoprotein involved in iron transport that may be a candidate for functionalized nanoparticles to bind and target cancer cells. In this study, the effects of the simple and doped with cobalt (Co) and copper (Cu) ferrihydrite nanoparticles (Fh-NPs, Cu-Fh-NPs, and Co-Fh-NPs) were studied by spectroscopic and molecular approaches. Fluorescence spectroscopy revealed a static quenching mechanism for all three types of Fh-NPs. All Fh-NPs interacted with HST with low affinity, and the binding was driven by hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces for simple Fh-NPs and by hydrophobic interactions for Cu-Fh-NPs and Co-Fh-NPs binding, respectively. Of all samples, simple Fh-NPs bound the most to the HST binding site. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) allowed the efficient determination of the energy transfer between HST and NPs and the distance at which the transfer takes place and confirmed the mechanism of quenching. The denaturation of the HST is an endothermic process, both in the case of apo HST and HST in the presence of the three types of Fh-NPs. Molecular docking studies revealed that Fh binds with a low affinity to HST (Ka = 9.17 × 103 M−1) in accord with the fluorescence results, where the interaction between simple Fh-NPs and HST was described by a binding constant of 9.54 × 103 M−1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia G. Chilom
- Department of Electricity, Solid Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest, Str Atomistilor 405, CP MG 11, RO-077125 Măgurele, Romania; (N.S.); (S.I.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Nicoleta Sandu
- Department of Electricity, Solid Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest, Str Atomistilor 405, CP MG 11, RO-077125 Măgurele, Romania; (N.S.); (S.I.)
| | - Sorina Iftimie
- Department of Electricity, Solid Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest, Str Atomistilor 405, CP MG 11, RO-077125 Măgurele, Romania; (N.S.); (S.I.)
| | - Maria Bălăşoiu
- Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Joliot-Curie No. 6, 141980 Dubna, Russia; (M.B.); (A.R.); (O.O.)
- Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering, RO-077125 Măgurele, Romania
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Institutskiy Per. No. 9, 141701 Dolgoprudniy, Russia
| | - Andrey Rogachev
- Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Joliot-Curie No. 6, 141980 Dubna, Russia; (M.B.); (A.R.); (O.O.)
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Institutskiy Per. No. 9, 141701 Dolgoprudniy, Russia
| | - Oleg Orelovich
- Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Joliot-Curie No. 6, 141980 Dubna, Russia; (M.B.); (A.R.); (O.O.)
| | - Sergey Stolyar
- Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian, Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Akademgorodok St. No. 50, 660036 Krasnoyarsk, Russia;
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Śliwińska-Hill U. Spectroscopic studies of simultaneous binding of cyclophosphamide and imatinib mesylate to human holo-transferrin. SPECTROCHIMICA ACTA. PART A, MOLECULAR AND BIOMOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY 2021; 252:119538. [PMID: 33582440 DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2021.119538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2020] [Revised: 01/16/2021] [Accepted: 01/23/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The interactions of proteins with drugs are very important from a pharmacological point of view. Holo-transferrin is a blood-plasma glycoprotein whose main function is iron-binding and the transport of other ligands. Additionally, the protein is only transferrin-form recognized by TfR1 and TfR2 receptors at the surface of rapidly proliferating malignant cells. Imatinib mesylate is a tyrosine-kinase inhibitor mainly used in the treatment of blood cancers, frequently in multidrug therapy with cyclophosphamide. In this study the effect of cyclophosphamide on the interaction of imatinib mesylate with human holo-transferrin has been investigated. Using spectroscopic techniques such as fluorescence, circular dichroism, ultraviolet-visible and electrophoretic light scattering additive parameters, system stability and the effect of the ligands on the protein conformation at varying pH values have been defined. Calculated quenching constants are in the order of 2 × 104 M-1 and the type of interaction depends on the reaction medium. Under physiological conditions binding constant is 1.329 × 106 M-1 whereas in an environment similar to that of cancer cells the constant is significantly lower, Ka = 6.060 × 104 M-1. N values are approximate to 1 in all cases. Moreover, some changes are observed in the α-helical structure of the protein after interaction with the drugs and the presence of cyclophosphamide slightly stabilizes the protein secondary structure. All collected data proves the effect of cyclophosphamide on the interaction between imatinib mesylate and human holo-transferrin. It is of great clinical interest due to anticancer, multidrug therapies including both imatinib mesylate and cyclophosphamide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Urszula Śliwińska-Hill
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Wrocław Medical University, Borowska 211A, 50-566 Wrocław, Poland.
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Saharia J, Bandara YMNDY, Goyal G, Lee JS, Karawdeniya BI, Kim MJ. Molecular-Level Profiling of Human Serum Transferrin Protein through Assessment of Nanopore-Based Electrical and Chemical Responsiveness. ACS NANO 2019; 13:4246-4254. [PMID: 30844233 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.8b09293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
In this study, we investigated the voltage and pH responsiveness of human serum transferrin (hSTf) protein using silicon nitride (Si xN y) nanopores. The Fe(III)-rich holo form of hSTf was dominant when pH > pI, while the Fe(III)-free apo form was dominant when pH < pI. The translocations of hSTf were purely in an electrophoretic sense, thus depended on its pI and the solution pH. With increasing voltage, voltage driven protein unfolding became prominent which was indicated by the trends associated with change in conductance, due to hSTf translocation, and in the excluded electrolyte volume. Additionally, analysis of the translocation events of the pure apo form of hSTf showed a clear difference in the event population compared to that of the holo form. The results obtained demonstrate the successful application of nanopore devices to distinguish between the holo and apo forms of hSTf in a mixture and to analyze its folding and unfolding phenomenon over a range of pH and applied voltages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jugal Saharia
- Department of Mechanical Engineering , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , Texas 75275 , United States
| | - Y M Nuwan D Y Bandara
- Department of Mechanical Engineering , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , Texas 75275 , United States
| | - Gaurav Goyal
- Department of Biological Engineering , Chalmers University of Technology , SE-412 96 Gothenburg , Sweden
| | - Jung Soo Lee
- Department of Mechanical Engineering , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , Texas 75275 , United States
| | | | - Min Jun Kim
- Department of Mechanical Engineering , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , Texas 75275 , United States
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Microscopic malaria parasitemia diagnosis and grading on benchmark datasets. Microsc Res Tech 2018; 81:1042-1058. [DOI: 10.1002/jemt.23071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2017] [Revised: 04/23/2018] [Accepted: 05/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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