An analysis of the near ultraviolet circular dichroism of insulin

Insulin smart drug delivery nanoparticles of aminophenylboronic acid-POSS molecule at neutral pH

Self-regulated "smart" insulin administration system that mimic pancreatic endocrine function would be highly desirable for diabetes management. Here, a glucose-responsive continuous insulin delivery system is developed, where novel polyhedral oligosilsesquioxane (POSS) modified with 3-aminophenylboronic acid (APBA) were used to encapsulate insulin (insulin entrapment efficiency: 73.2%) to prepare a fast response, high stability, good distribution, and excellent biocompatible system. Due to the strong hydrophobicity of POSS, the POSS moiety is located at the core in aqueous solution and combines with the boronic group of APBA and the diol generated in PEG-insulin to form a nanomicelle structure, that is, nanoparticles naturally. Micelles self-assembled from these molecules possess glucose-responsiveness at varying glucose concentrations. The interaction of the PBA and diol containing insulin via boronate ester bond and its interchange with glucose was investigated by FT-IR, 1H NMR and XPS. Furthermore, the successful glucose-triggered release of insulin from the POSS-APBA micelles was investigated at neutral pH. A linear graph was plotted with the measured released insulin vs glucose concentrations, with a linear correlation coefficient (R2) value close to 1. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy analysis was performed to measure insulin activity by comparing secondary structures of insulin, PEG-Insulin, and POSS-APBA@insulin. When confirming intracellular apoptosis signaling, cleaved caspase 3 and caspase 9 were not increased by 640 μg/ml POSS-APBA and POSS-APBA@insulin in HeLa, HDF and HUVE cells. Application in the biomedical field for controlled delivery of insulin appear to be promising.

Insulin analogs with B24 or B25 phenylalanine replaced by biphenylalanine

B24 and B25 phenylalanines (Phe) play important roles in insulin structure and function. Insulin analogs with B24 Phe or B25 Phe replaced by biphenylalanine (Bip) were prepared by enzymatic semisynthesis. The biological activities were determined by receptor binding assay and in vivo mouse convulsion assay. The results showed that B25 Bip insulin has 139% receptor binding activity and 50% in vivo biological activity, whereas B24 Bip insulin is inactive, when compared with native insulin, suggesting that B24 Phe is crucial for insulin activity. The structures in solution were studied by circular dichroism and fluoremetry, and our results suggested that the insulin analogs with low activities tend to be more tightly packed. The association properties were studied by size exclusion chromatography. The Bip-amide replacement of B24 Phe in deshexapeptide insulin or B25 Phe in despentapeptide insulin will cause the monomeric B24 Phe-amide deshexapeptide insulin or B25 Phe-amide despentapeptide insulin to associate and form dimers, whereas the mutations of B24 Phe in insulin will make insulin dimers dissociate into insulin monomers.

Chemical analysis of solid-state irradiated human insulin

PURPOSE

To study the chemical modifications induced upon irradiation of solid human insulin at radiosterilization doses and investigate the influence of the absorbed dose on radiolysis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Volatile radiolytic products were monitored by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and non-volatile products by two different high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods: the formation of higher molecular weight proteins was assessed by size exclusion liquid chromatography whereas assays for related compounds and chemical potency tests were carried out using reverse-phase HPLC-UV. Conformational changes were investigated by measurements of circular dichroism.

RESULTS

After gamma irradiation at 10 kGy, the recovery of insulin was 96.8%; higher molecular weight proteins accounted for 0.35% (relative peak area) and other related compounds (including A21 desamido insulin) represented 1.29%. No major structural changes and no volatile radiolytic compounds were detected.

CONCLUSION

Human insulin samples irradiated in the solid-state at 10 kGy (gamma rays) and 14 kGy (electron-beam) meet the European Pharmacopoeia requirements and can be considered as quite stable towards radiation from a chemical analysis viewpoint.

B22 Glu des-B30 insulin: a novel monomeric insulin

Studies on monomeric insulin with reduced self-association are important in the development of insulin pharmaceutical preparations with rapid hypoglycemic action on patients with diabetes. Here we report a novel monomeric insulin, B22 Glu des-B30 insulin, prepared from a single chain insulin precursor with B22 Arg mutated to Glu, which was expressed in Pichia pastoris and converted to B22 Glu des-B30 insulin by tryptic digestion. It still retains 50% of the in vivo biological activity of porcine insulin and does not form a dimer even at a concentration of 10 mg/ml, showing that B22 Glu plays a key role in reducing the self-association of the insulin molecule without greatly reducing its biological activity. This novel monomeric insulin might have potential applications in the clinic.

Prediction of the association state of insulin using spectral parameters

Human insulin exists in different association states, from monomer to hexamer, depending on the conditions. In the presence of zinc the "normal" state is a hexamer. The structural properties of 20 variants of human insulin were studied by near-UV circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy, and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The mutants showed different degrees of association (monomer, dimers, tetramers, and hexamers) at neutral pH. A correlation was shown between the accessibility of tyrosines to acrylamide quenching and the degree of association of the insulin mutants. The near-UV CD spectra of the insulins were affected by protein association and by mutation-induced structural perturbations. However, the shape and intensity of difference CD spectra, obtained by subtraction of the spectra measured in 20% acetic acid (where all insulin species were monomeric) from the corresponding spectra measured at neutral pH, correlate well with the degree of insulin association. In fact, the near-UV CD difference spectra for monomeric, dimeric, tetrameric, and hexameric insulin are very distinctive, both in terms of intensity and shape. The results show that the spectral properties of the insulins reflect their state of association, and can be used to predict their oligomeric state.

Effects of PEG conjugation on insulin properties

The goal of this research was to determine whether the site-specific attachment of poly(ethylene glycol) to insulin could enhance the physical and pharmacological properties of insulin without negatively affecting its biological activity or immunological properties. Electrophilically activated derivatives of low-molecular-weight monomethoxypoly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG) were chemically coupled to insulin via its amino groups at positions phenylalanine-B1 or lysine-B29, with an amide bond being formed between the polymer and protein. The site-specific attachment of mPEG to insulin did not substantially alter insulin's secondary/tertiary structure, self-association behavior, or potency in vivo. However, mPEG attachment did significantly enhance insulin's resistance to aggregation. In addition, the pegylation of insulin almost completely eliminates the resultant conjugate's immunogenicity, allergenicity, and antigenicity. Finally, the conjugates were observed to remain in the systemic circulation for longer periods of time than unmodified insulin after subcutaneous administration.

High-resolution structure of an engineered biologically potent insulin monomer, B16 Tyr-->His, as determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Site-directed mutagenesis is used in conjunction with 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy in order to find an insulin species amenable for structure determination in aqueous solution by NMR spectroscopy. A successful candidate in this respect, i.e., B16 Tyr-->His mutant insulin, is identified and selected for detailed characterization by two-dimensional 1H NMR. This mutant species retains 43% biological potency and native folding stability, but in contrast to human insulin it remains monomeric at millimolar concentration in aqueous solution at pH 2.4. The resulting homogeneous sample allows high-quality 2D NMR spectra to be recorded. The NMR studies result in an almost complete assignment of the 1H resonance signals as well as identification of NOE cross peaks. NOE-derived distance restraints in conjunction with torsion restraints based on measured coupling constants, 3JHNH alpha, are used for structure calculations using the hybrid method of distance geometry and simulated annealing. The calculated structures show that the major part of the insulin monomer is structurally well-defined with an average rms deviation between the 20 calculated structures and the mean coordinates of 0.89 A for all backbone atoms, 0.46 A for backbone atoms (A2-A19 and B4-B28), and 1.30 A for all heavy atoms. The structure of the A-chain is composed of two helices from A2 to A7 and from A12 to A19 connected by a short extended strand. The B-chain consists of a loop, B1-B8, an alpha-helix, B9-B19, a beta-turn, B20-B23, and an extended strand from B24 to B30.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Dogfish insulin. Primary structure, conformation and biological properties of an elasmobranchial insulin

Insulin from an elasmobranch, the spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) has been purified to near homogeneity by means of acid-ethanol extraction and salt precipitation. The amino acid sequences of the performic-acid-oxidised A and B chains have been determined and exhibit some unusual features. The A chain contains a total of 22 amino acids; only the insulin from coypu (a member of the Rodentia suborder, Hystricomorpha), has previously been reported to contain an extension past the A21 asparagine. The B10 histidine, which is involved in the formation of the insulin hexamers in higher vertebrates through the co-ordination of zinc, is present in this elasmobranch insulin. Several substitutions relative to bovine insulin occur in the proposed receptor binding region (A5Gln leads to His, B21Glu leads to Pro, B22Arg leads to Lys, B25Phe leads to Tyr). In spite of these substitutions, the maximal response in the rat epididymal fat cell assay is the same for bovine and dogfish insulins; the concentration required to produce the half-maximal response is, however, approximately threefold greater for dogfish insulin than that of bovine insulin. The use of interactive computer graphics model-building predicts that the dogfish insulin can attain a three-dimensional structure very similar to that of bovine insulin; circular dichroic spectra are presented which support the model-building studies.

Side-chain mobility and the calculation of tyrosyl circular dichroism of proteins. Implications of a test with insulin and des-B1-phenylalanine insulin

Previous calculations using crystal structure coordinates (Strickland and Mercola [1976], Biochemistry. 15: 3857) have predicted that about 40 percent of the calculated tyrosyl circular dichroism of hexameric insulin is due to one of the four tyrosine residues: viz. the A14-tyrosine interacting with the nearby B1-phenylalanine ring group. We have tested this prediction by measuring the tyrosyl circular dichroism of an isomorphous analogue of insulin, des-B1-phenylalanine-insulin. Contrary to expectation, the resulting circular dichroism was the same as that of insulin. It is concluded that the B1-phenylalanine residue does not in fact make a large contribution to the circular dichroism of A14-tyrosine. This result is probably due to the thermal motion of the B1 and A14 ring groups not taken into account by the calculations. An example of the effects of thermal motion on the calculated circular dichroism is given and improvements that do take into account thermal motion are discussed.

Near-ultraviolet tyrosyl circular dichroism of pig insulin monomers, dimers, and hexamers. Dipole-dipole coupling calculations in the monopole approximation

The tyrosyl circular dichroism (CD) has been calculated using the conformation of pig insulin observed in rhombohedral crystals containing 2 zinc atoms per hexamer. These calculations predict that the tyrosyl CD at 275 nm will be enhanced disproportionally as monomers interact to form dimers and as dimers interact to form hexamers. This enhanced tyrosyl CD (delta epsilon per 5800 molecular weight) results from new coupling interactions generated in the regions of contact between monomers and between dimers. These calculations illustrate that a large CD enhancement may accompany aggregation even in the absence of a conformation change in eith monomer. The tyrosyl CD intensities calculated for monomers, dimers, and hexamers of 2-zinc pig insulin are compatible with the experimentally observed CD spectra which are enhanced about fourfold in the hexamer compared with the monomer. Zinc ions and other metals do not contribute directly to the tyrosyl CD but only influence the optical properties by promoting the hexameric state. The relation of the integrity of the molecule to dimer formation and the biological activity of the molecules are discussed. The largest calculated contributions to tryosyl CD arise from interactions with far-ultraviolet transitions of neighboring aromatic groups. In the hexamer, about half of the tyrosyl CD intensity is calculated to arise from Tyr-A14.

Fluorine nuclear magnetic resonance studies of trifluoroacetylinsulin derivatives. Effects of salts and denaturants

19F nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy has been used to study the effects of salts and denaturants on the structure and aggregation properties of several trifluoroacetyl derivatives of insulin. This technique has been shown to be a powerful tool in the study of specific sites on the protein molecule. Circular dichroic and sedimentation velocity studies were also carried out to aid in the interpretation of the magnetic resonance data. At pH 6.8 Zn2+ had no effect on the 19F magnetic resonance spectrum, however, citrate and acetate ions significantly sharpened the signal from the trifluoroacetyl probe at the N-terminal end (glycine A-1) of the insulin A chain. No alterations were observed in the S20,W value of circular dichroic spectra, suggesting that the probe had gained a considerable degree of motional freedom without changes in aggregation or conformational properties. In the absence of perturbants the trifluoroacetyl group on glycine A-1 showed considerably more motional freedom than on phenylalanine B-1. Guanidine hydrochloride and sodium dodecyl sulfate were used to study the unfolding of several trifluoroacetylinsulin derivatives. The results suggested differential alterations in the environments of the probes located at glycine A-1, phenylalanine B-1, and lysine B-29 in the insulin molecule as the concentration of perturbant was increased.

The relation of conformation and association of insulin to receptor binding; x-ray and circular-dichroism studies on bovine and hystricomorph insulins

Crystal and solution structure studies on insulins of different sequences and of widely different receptor binding affinities are reported. Bovine insulin, studied as a control, has a circular dichroism spectrum which is dependent both on protein concentration and zinc concentration. The spectrum appears to be related to the level of association of the insulin molecules. This implies that when using circular dichroism to compare solution structures of insulin derivatives or species variants one must make the comparison at equivalent levels of association and not merely at the same concentration. Changes in circular dichroism are related to the known crystal structure of zinc insulin hexamers. The chinchilla insulin spectrum shows a reduced zinc dependence in low-salt conditions which correlates with the inability to form crystals in similar conditions. This is attributed to an amino acid substitution at position B4. Crystals are obtained in high-salt conditions and X-ray diffraction patterns show these to be isomorphous with bovine 4Zn insulin crystals. Guinea pig insulin failed to crystallise under conditions which are normally conducive to the formation of crystals of zinc insulin hexamers and the circular dichroism showed no zinc dependence. This is consistent with a monomeric structure. The significance of the association behaviour of chinchilla and guinea pig insulins may be in the storage of the hormone in vivo. Whereas the monomeric form of chinchilla insulin has a structure closely related to bovine insulin, the circular dichroism indicates a gross structural difference for guinea pig insulin. This may be similar to that in des-A21, des-B30-insulin, as both lack the Arg-B22--Asn-A21 carboxylate ion pair. The similarity of structure of chinchilla and bovine insulins is reflected in their receptor binding whereas the low receptor binding of guinea pig insulin probably results from the changes in its conformation rather than an alteration in residues of a receptor binding region.