Microenvironment of tryptophan residues in proteins of four structural classes: applications for fluorescence and circular dichroism spectroscopy

Purification, Characterization, and Assessment of Antimicrobial Activity and Toxicity of Portulaca elatior Leaf Lectin (PeLL)

Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins with several bioactivities, including antimicrobial properties. Portulaca elatior is a species found at Brazilian Caatinga and data on the biochemical composition of this plant are scarce. The present work describes the purification of P. elatior leaf lectin (PeLL) as well as the assessment of its antimicrobial activity and toxicity. PeLL, isolated by chromatography on a chitin column, had native liquid charge and subunit composition evaluated by electrophoresis. Hemagglutinating activity (HA) of PeLL was determined in the presence of carbohydrates or divalent cations, as well as after heating and incubation at different pH values. Changes in the lectin conformation were monitored by evaluating intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence and using the extrinsic probe bis-ANS. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated against Pectobacterium strains and Candida species. The minimal inhibitory (MIC), bactericidal (MBC), and fungicidal (MFC) concentrations were determined. Finally, PeLL was evaluated for in vitro hemolytic activity in human erythrocytes and in vivo acute toxicity in mice (5 and 10 mg/kg b.w. per os). PeLL (pI 5.4; 20 kDa) had its HA was inhibited by mannose, galactose, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and Mn²⁺. PeLL HA was resistant to heating at 100 °C, although conformational changes were detected. PeLL was more active in the acidic pH range, in which no conformational changes were observed. The lectin presented MIC and MBC of 0.185 and 0.74 μg/mL for all Pectobacterium strains, respectively; MIC of 1.48 μg/mL for C. albicans, C. tropicalis, and C. krusei; MIC and MFC of 0.74 and 2.96 μg/mL for C. parapsilosis. No hemolytic activity or signs of acute toxicity were observed in the mice. In conclusion, a new, low-toxic, and thermostable lectin was isolated from P. elatior leaves, being the first plant compound to show antibacterial activity against Pectobacterium.

Heat-induced amorphous aggregates assembly of soy protein modulate in vitro digestibility of potato starch

This research focused on the characteristics of amorphous aggregates derived from soy protein (SPAA), and their effects on the structural, physicochemical, and digestive properties of potato starch (PS). The SPAA induced by different heating temperatures at pH 7.0 formed an inhomogeneous spherical structure. The presence of SPAA could improve the degree of short-range order of starch, increase thermal stability, reduce pasting viscosity and breakdown, and setback viscosity values of PS. For the PS complexed with SPAAs under simulated cooking conditions, the fraction of digested starch at 300 min (C₃₀₀) decreased by 6-14 %, and rapid digestible starch content (RDS) decreased by 18-25 %, while the slowly digestible starch (SDS) and resistant starch (RS) increased by 0.4-3 % and 15-23 %, respectively. The SPAA at higher temperature treatment (SPAA₁₃₀) reduced digestive rate coefficient (k) values more significantly than SPAA at a lower temperature (SPAA₇₀, SPAA₉₀, SPAA₁₁₀). And the SPAA had no inhibitory effect on α-amylase. The results of this study would significantly contribute to expanding the theoretical information about protein regulation in starch digestion and promoting the development of healthy foods with digestion-resistant properties.

Sequence-specific destabilization of azurin by tetramethylguanidinium-dipeptide ionic liquids

The thermal unfolding of the copper redox protein azurin was studied in the presence of four different dipeptide-based ionic liquids (ILs) utilizing tetramethylguanidinium as the cation. The four dipeptides have different sequences including the amino acids Ser and Asp: TMG-AspAsp, TMG-SerSer, TMG-SerAsp, and TMG-AspSer. Thermal unfolding curves generated from temperature-dependent fluorescence spectroscopy experiments showed that TMG-AspAsp and TMG-SerSer have minor destabilizing effects on the protein while TMG-AspSer and TMG-SerAsp strongly destabilize azurin. Red-shifted fluorescence signatures in the 25 °C correlate with the observed protein destabilization in the solutions with TMG-AspSer and TMG-SerAsp. These signals could correspond to interactions between the Asp residue in the dipeptide and the azurin Trp residue in the unfolded state. These results, supported by appropriate control experiments, suggest that dipeptide sequence-specific interactions lead to selective protein destabilization and motivate further studies of TMG-dipeptide ILs.

The PentUnFOLD algorithm as a tool to distinguish the dark and the light sides of the structural instability of proteins

Intrinsically disordered proteins are frequently involved in important regulatory processes in the cell thanks to their ability to bind several different targets performing sometimes even opposite functions. The PentUnFOLD algorithm is a physicochemical method that is based on new propensity scales for disordered, nonstable and stable elements of secondary structure and on the counting of stabilizing and destabilizing intraprotein contacts. Unlike other methods, it works with a PDB file, and it can determine not only those fragments of alpha helices, beta strands, and random coils that can turn into disordered state (the “dark” side of the disorder), but also nonstable regions of alpha helices and beta strands which are able to turn into random coils (the “light” side), and vice versa (H ↔ C, E ↔ C). The scales have been obtained from structural data on disordered regions from the middle parts of amino acid sequences only, and not on their expectedly disordered N- and C-termini. Among other tendencies we have found that regions of both alpha helices and beta strands that can turn into the disordered state are relatively enriched in residues of Ala, Met, Asp, and Lys, while regions of both alpha helices and beta strands that can turn into random coil are relatively enriched in hydrophilic residues, and Cys, Pro, and Gly. Moreover, PentUnFOLD has the option to determine the effect of secondary structure transitions on the stability of a given region of a protein. The PentUnFOLD algorithm is freely available at http://3.17.12.213/pent-un-fold and http://chemres.bsmu.by/PentUnFOLD.htm.

Spectra of tryptophan fluorescence are the result of co-existence of certain most abundant stabilized excited state and certain most abundant destabilized excited state

Fluorescence spectra of proteins and peptides are traditionally used to get an information on self-association of proteins and peptides, on their tertiary and quaternary structure. In this study it was shown that there are just three peaks of tryptophan fluorescence (at ∼308, at ∼330, and at ∼360 nm) in rough unsmoothed spectra of fluorescence of pure tryptophan in different solvents that change their heights depending on the polarity of a solvent. Two separate peaks at ∼330 nm and ∼360 nm are especially prominent in the spectrum of human epidermal growth factor. In contrast, in smoothed (either mathematically, or physically) spectra of Trp-containing proteins a single maximum of fluorescence varies between 330 and 360 nm. The theory of tryptophan fluorescence is discussed in light of three discrete peaks existence. A stabilizing hydrogen bond with aromatic system of benzene ring in the excited state is proposed as the cause of emission at ∼360 nm bringing Trp to the destabilized ground state. Emission from the destabilized excited state has a maximum at ∼330 nm if the ground state is destabilized, as well as if both states are stabilized. If the excited state is destabilized, while the ground state is stabilized by purely hydrophobic interactions, emitted light should have a maximum at ∼308 nm. The degree of hydrophilicity of tryptophan microenvironment is proposed to be measured as the ratio between the peak at 360 nm and the peak at 330 nm if the observed shifts are not "horizontal", but "vertical". The process of dissociation of hemagglutinin trimers from pandemic Influenza A(H1N1) virus is described as an example of the advantages of the proposed method.

The cytoplasmic tail of influenza A/H1N1 virus hemagglutinin is β-structural

Influenza A/H1N1 virus hemagglutinin (HA) is an integral type I glycoprotein that contains a large glycosylated ectodomain, a transmembrane domain, and a cytoplasmic tail (CT) of 10-14 amino acid residues. There are absolutely no data on the secondary or tertiary structure of the HA CT, which is important for virus pathogenesis. Three highly conserved cysteines are post-translationally modified by the attachment of fatty acid residues that pin the CT to the lipid membrane inside the virion. We applied circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence spectroscopy analysis to examine four synthetic peptides corresponding to 14-15 C-terminal residues of H1 subtype HA (NH₂-WMCSNGSLQCRICI-COOH; NH₂-FWMCSNGSLQCRICI-COOH), with free or acetaminomethylated cysteines, in the reduced or non-reduced state, at various pH values and temperatures. The CD analysis detected the formation of a β-structure (30-65% according to the new BeStSel algorithm), in addition to an unstructured random coil, in every peptide in various conditions. It was completely or partially recognized as an antiparallel β-structure that was also confirmed by the multi-bounce Horizontal Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transformed Infrared (HATR-FTIR) spectroscopy analysis. According to the experimental data, as well as 3 D modeling, we assume that the amino acid sequence corresponding to the HA CT may form a short antiparallel β-structure under the lipid membrane within a virion.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.