Optimization of protein solution by a novel experimental design method using thermodynamic properties

Glycation and drug binding by serum albumin

Accumulation of glycation products in patients with hyperglycaemic conditions can lead to their reaction with the proteins in the human system such as serum albumin, haemoglobin, insulin, plasma lipoproteins, lens proteins and collagen among others which have important biological functions. Therefore, it is important to understand if glycation of these proteins affects their normal action not only qualitatively, but also importantly quantitatively. Glycation of human serum albumin can easily be carried out over period of weeks and its drug transportability may be examined, in addition to characterisation of the amadori products. A combination of ultrasensitive isothermal titration calorimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, spectroscopy and chromatography provides structure-property-energetics correlations which are important to obtain mechanistic aspects of drug recognition, conformation of the protein, and role of amadori products under conditions of glycation. The role of advance glycation end products is important in recognition of antidiabetic drugs. Further, the extent of glycation of the protein and its implication on drug transportability investigated by direct calorimetric methods enables unravelling mechanistic insights into role of functionality on drug molecules in the binding process, and hinderance in the recognition process, if any, as a result of glycation. It is possible that the drug binding ability of the protein under glycation conditions may not be adversely affected, or may even lead to strengthened ability. Rigorous studies on such systems with diverse functionality on the drug molecules is required which is essential in deriving guidelines for improvements in the existing drugs or in the synthesis of new molecular entities directed towards addressing diabetic conditions.

Microbial oil production from acidified glycerol pretreated sugarcane bagasse by Mortierella isabellina

An integrated microbial oil production process consisting of acidified glycerol pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse, enzymatic hydrolysis, microbial oil production by Mortierella isabellina NRRL 1757 and oil recovery by hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of fungal biomass in fermentation broth was assessed in this study. Following pretreatment, the effect of residual pretreatment hydrolysate (containing glycerol) on enzymatic hydrolysis was firstly studied. The residual pretreatment hydrolysate (corresponding to 2.0–7.5% glycerol) improved glucan enzymatic digestibilities by 10–11% compared to the enzymatic hydrolysis in water (no buffer). Although residual pretreatment hydrolysate at 2.0–5.0% glycerol slightly inhibited the consumption of glucose in enzymatic hydrolysate by M. isabellina NRRL 1757, it did not affect microbial oil production due to the consumption of similar amounts of total carbon sources including glycerol. When the cultivation was scaled-up to a 1 L bioreactor, glucose was consumed more rapidly but glycerol assimilation was inhibited. Finally, HTL of fungal biomass in fermentation broth without any catalyst at 340 °C for 60 min efficiently recovered microbial oils from fungal biomass and achieved a bio-oil yield of 78.7% with fatty acids being the dominant oil components (∼89%). HTL also led to the hydrogenation of less saturated fatty acids (C18:2 and C18:3) to more saturated forms (C18:0 and C18:1).

A microbial oil production process consisting of acidified glycerol pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse, enzymatic hydrolysis, microbial oil production by M. isabellina NRRL 1757 and oil recovery by hydrothermal liquefaction of fungal biomass in fermentation broth was assessed.

Evaluation of antioxidants in protein formulation against oxidative stress using various biophysical methods

To evaluate the biophysical stability of protein against oxidative stress, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was used to induce non-site-specific protein oxidation. Various biophysical methods were utilized including RP-HPLC, DSC, DLS, and CD. Lysozyme was chosen as a model protein and three different antioxidants (ascorbic acid, N-acetyl-l-cysteine, and l-methionine) were selected to observe their effect. Significant increase in hydrodynamic size, decrease in α-helix propensity, and increase in β-sheet content evident with increasing H2O2 concentration and temperature suggested methionine residues as the most probable site of oxidation. Among the three anti-oxidants, methionine proved superior in suppressing protein oxidation with its increasing concentration. Methionine reacted with H2O2 to form methionine sulfoxide, which aided in decreasing the oxidant concentration to react with the protein. The hydrodynamic size of methionine containing protein was retained when incubated at 40°C after 14 days with unchanged transition temperature (Tm). In contrast, RP-HPLC revealed oxidation alterations when the same samples were stored at 40°C, highlighting the significant impact of temperature on kinetics. N-acetyl-l-cysteine and ascorbic acid were relatively less protective. Their hydrodynamic size was increased with decreasing Tm compared to the reference. In summary, methionine was a superior antioxidant, implicating a promising component in the protein formulation for suppressing oxidation.