Light scattering of concentrated polydisperse polymer solutions

Effect of T-R conformational change on sickle-cell hemoglobin interactions and aggregation

We compare the role of a conformational switch and that of a point mutation in the thermodynamic stability of a protein solution and in the consequent propensity toward aggregation. We study sickle-cell hemoglobin (HbS), the beta6 Glu-Val point mutant of adult human hemoglobin (HbA), in its R (CO-liganded) conformation, and compare its aggregation properties to those of both HbS and HbA in their T (unliganded) conformation. Static and dynamic light scattering measurements performed for various hemoglobin concentrations showed critical divergences with mean field exponents as temperature was increased. This allowed determining spinodal data points T(S)(c) by extrapolation. These points were fitted to theoretical expressions of the T(S)(c) spinodal line, which delimits the region where the homogeneous solution becomes thermodynamically unstable against demixing in two sets of denser and dilute mesoscopic domains, while remaining still liquid. Fitting provided model-free numerical values of enthalpy and entropy parameters measuring the stability of solutions against demixing, namely, 93.2 kJ/mol and 314 J/ degrees K-mol, respectively. Aggregation was observed also for R-HbS, but in amorphous form and above physiological temperatures close to the spinodal, consistent with the role played in nucleation by anomalous fluctuations governed by the parameter epsilon = (T - T(S))/T(S). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and optical spectroscopy showed that aggregation is neither preceded nor followed by denaturation. Transient multiple interprotein contacts occur in the denser liquid domains for R-HbS, T-HbS, and T-HbA. The distinct effects of their specific nature and configurations, and those of desolvation on the demixing and aggregation thermodynamics, and on the aggregate structure are highlighted.

Time scale of protein aggregation dictated by liquid-liquid demixing

The growing impact of protein aggregation pathologies, together with the current high need for extensive information on protein structures are focusing much interest on the physics underlying the nucleation and growth of protein aggregates and crystals. Sickle Cell Hemoglobin (HbS), a point-mutant form of normal human Hemoglobin (HbA), is the first recognized and best-studied case of pathologically aggregating protein. Here we reanalyze kinetic data on nucleation of deoxy-HbS aggregates by referring them to the (concentration-dependent) temperature T(s) characterizing the occurrence of the phase transition of liquid-liquid demixing (LLD) of the solution. In this way, and by appropriate scaling of kinetic data at different concentrations, so as to normalize their spans, the apparently disparate sets of data are seen to fall on a master curve. Expressing the master curve vs. the parameter epsilon = (T - T(s)) / T(s), familiar from phase transition theory, allows eliciting the role of anomalously large concentration fluctuations associated with the LLD phase transition and also allows decoupling quantitatively the role of such fluctuations from that of microscopic, inter-protein interactions leading to nucleation. Referring to epsilon shows how in a narrow temperature span, that is at T - T(s), nucleation kinetics can undergo orders-of-magnitude changes, unexpected in terms of ordinary chemical kinetics. The same is true for similarly small changes of other parameters (pH, salts, precipitants), capable of altering T(s) and consequently epsilon. This offers the rationale for understanding how apparently minor changes of parameters can dramatically affect protein aggregation and related diseases.

Influence of Component Ratio on Adsorption of Polymer Mixtures under Phase Separation of Solutions

The influence of the component ratio on polymer mixture adsorption in the two-phase condition is estimated. Transition toward the two-phase condition was attained by increasing the solution concentration up to phase separation. For solutions that have separated into two phases with increasing component concentration, the adsorption from each phase has been studied separately and the total adsorption from two phases has been calculated. The polystyrene-poly(butyl methacrylate)-CCl(4) system was investigated using fumed silica as adsorbent. Simultaneously, the fraction of segments of each type that were immobilized by the surface was determined from NMR spectra. In all cases, poly(butyl methacrylate) is characterized by preferential adsorption. The main features of adsorption are similar in both one-phase and two-phase states; however, the values for adsorption and fraction of immobilized segments are different in the case of adsorption from two separated phases because of the difference between the phases in the ratio of components and their concentration in each phase. The distinctions between adsorption from one-phase solutions before phase separation and from solutions modeling separated phases are connected with the redistribution of components between upper and lower phases. As a result, their ratio does not correspond to the initial ratio, and therefore the thermodynamic conditions of solutions, responsible for adsorption, are changed. Because of this, the shape of isotherms of adsorption and the adsorption values are determined by the different levels of aggregation in solutions with various ratios of components. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Truncation theorems for spinodals and critical points of mean-field models for polydisperse polymer solutions

An exact truncation theorem is proved for the expansion, in terms of moments of the molecular weight distribution, of the Gibbs spinodal determinants of a wide class of generalized mean-field Flory-Huggins models for polydisperse polymer solutions. A similar truncation theorem for the critical-point determinants is derived on the assumption that an expansion in a finite number of moments exists. These truncations have been exploited elsewhere through the relative economy they confer on computations involved in the testing and refinement of such theoretical models by fitting them to experimental data. A much simplified general and explicit expression is found for the relevant spinodal determinants of the mean-field models. If the relevant free energy of mixing is assumed to depend on the moments M 0 , M 1 , . . . , M n of the molecular weight distribution, this expression shows the spinodal to be a function of M 0 , M 1 , . . , M 2 n +1 . The critical point is a function of M 0 , M 1 , . . . , M 3 n +2 . The truncations at M 2 n +1 and M 3 n +2 betoken a collapse to a small subspace of the formal Hilbert-space representation of the composition space of the solution. The mathematical proof follows the pathway of the classical routes to the rigorous theory of function spaces opened up by von Koch and Fredholm, and the spinodal expression bears the imprint of a classical solution of Stieltje’s moment problem. In addition, modern operational methods of combinatorial theory are relevant to future extensions of the present work. Theoreticians may, therefore, be interested to come to the aid of experimentalists struggling with the analysis of data of much practical import.