Pressure-induced change in proteins studied through chemical modifications

Clinical Potential of Hyperbaric Pressure-Treated Whey Protein

Whey protein (WP) from cow's milk is a rich source of essential and branched chain amino acids. Whey protein isolates (WPI) has been demonstrated to support muscle accretion, antioxidant activity, and immune modulation. However, whey is not readily digestible due to its tight conformational structure. Treatment of WPI with hyperbaric pressure results in protein unfolding. This enhances protein digestion, and results in an altered spectrum of released peptides, and greater release of essential and branched chain amino acids. Pressurized whey protein isolates (pWPI), through a series of cell culture, animal models and clinical studies, have been demonstrated to enhance muscle accretion, reduce inflammation, improve immunity, and decrease fatigue. It is also conceivable that pWPI would be more accessible to digestive enzymes, which would allow for a more rapid proteolysis of the proteins and an increased or altered release of small bioactive peptides. The altered profile of peptides released from WP digestion could thus play a role in the modulation of the immune response and tissue glutathione (GSH) concentrations. The research to date presents potentially interesting applications for the development of new functional foods based on hyperbaric treatment of WPI to produce products with more potent nutritional and nutraceutical properties.

Functional Improvement of Milk Whey Proteins Induced by High Hydrostatic Pressure

High pressure is emerging as a new processing technology that produces particular changes in the molecular structure of proteins and thus gives rise to new properties inaccessible via conventional methods of protein modification. This review deals with the main effects of high hydrostatic pressure on the physicochemical characteristics of milk whey proteins and how modifications in their structural properties contribute to functionality. In this paper the mechanism underlying pressure-induced changes in ss-lactoglobulin, a-lactabumin, and bovine serum albumin is explained, and related to functional properties such as gel-forming ability, emulsifying activity, or foaming capacity. The possibility of using high pressures to favor chemical reactions of proteins with other food components, such as carbohydrates, to produce novel molecules with new food uses is also considered.

Baroresistant buffer mixtures for biochemical analyses

Hydrostatic pressure is a useful tool in the study of varied fields such as protein aggregation, association, folding, ligand binding, and allostery. Application of pressure can have a significant effect on the pK(a) values of buffers commonly used for biochemical analysis. Consequently, cationic buffers, rather than neutral ones, are generally used to minimize pH effects; however, even with these buffers, the change in pH over 3 kbar may be consequential in highly pH-sensitive biochemical systems. Using fluorescence-based assays, we have systematically examined the effects of pressure on various buffers in the neutral pH range. We show that many commonly used cationic and Good's buffers increase in pH with pressure on the order of 0.1 to 0.3 pH units/kbar, in agreement with other published values. Carboxylates and phosphate decrease in pH to a similar extent. Buffer mixtures, composed of both cationic and carboxylate or phosphate components, are shown to be an order of magnitude less pressure sensitive than the individual component buffers. Using various relative concentrations of Tris and either phosphate, tricarballylate (1,2,3-propanetricarboxylate), or CDA (1,1-cyclohexane diacetate) at pH values between 7 and 8 yields baroresistant buffer mixtures. Buffer mixtures can be optimized for a specific pH, and a list of mixtures is presented for general laboratory use.

High hydrostatic pressure as a tool to study protein aggregation and amyloidosis

Aggregation of proteins is a serious problem, affecting both industrial production of proteins and human health. Despite recent advances in the theories and experimental techniques available to address understanding of protein aggregation processes, mechanisms of aggregate formation have proved challenging to study. This is in part because the typical irreversibility of protein aggregation processes at atmospheric conditions complicates analysis of their kinetics and thermodynamics. Because high hydrostatic pressures act to disfavor the hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions that cause protein aggregation, studies conducted under high hydrostatic pressures may allow protein aggregates to be formed reversibly, enabling thermodynamic and kinetic parameters to be measured in greater detail. Although application of high hydrostatic pressures to protein aggregation problems is rather recent, a growing literature, reviewed herein, suggests that high pressure may be a useful tool for both understanding protein aggregation and reversing it in industrial applications.

High-pressure denaturation of apomyoglobin

The pressure denaturation of wild type and mutant apomyoglobin (apoMb) was investigated using a high-pressure, high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance and high-pressure fluorescence techniques. Wild type apoMb is resistant to pressures up to 80 MPa, and denatures to a high-pressure intermediate, I(p), between 80 and 200 MPa. A further increase of pressure to 500 MPa results in denaturation of the intermediate. The two tryptophans, both in the A helix, remain sequestered from solvent in the high-pressure intermediate, which retains some native NOESY cross peaks in the AGH core as well as between F33 and F43. High-pressure fluorescence shows that the tryptophans remain inaccessible to solvent in the I(p) state. Thus the high-pressure intermediate has some structural properties in common with the apoMb I(2) acid intermediate. The resistance of the AGH core to pressures up to 200 MPa provides further evidence that the intrinsic stability of these alpha-helices is responsible for their presence in a number of equilibrium intermediates as well as in the earliest kinetic folding intermediate. Mutations in the AGH core designed to disrupt packing by burying a charge or increasing the size of a hydrophobic residue significantly perturbed the unfolding of native apoMb to the high-pressure intermediate. The F123W and S108L mutants both unfolded at lower pressures, while retaining some resistance to pressures below 50 MPa. The charge burial mutants, A130K and S108K, are not stable at very low pressures and both denature to the intermediate by 100 MPa, half of the pressure required for wild type apoMb. Thus a similar intermediate state is created independent of the method of perturbation, and mutations have similar effects on native state destabilization for both methods of denaturation. These data suggest that equilibrium intermediates that can be formed through different means are likely to resemble a kinetic intermediate.

Relationships between conformation of beta-lactoglobulin in solution and gel states as revealed by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR FT-IR) has been used to compare the structure of beta-lactoglobulin, the major component of whey proteins, in solution and in its functional gel state. To induce variation in the conformation of beta-lactoglobulin under a set of gelling conditions, the effect of heating temperature, pH, and high pressure homogenization on the conformation sensitive amide I band in the infrared spectra of both solutions and gels has been investigated. The results showed that gelification process has a pronounced effect upon beta-lactoglobulin secondary structure, leading to the formation of intermolecular hydrogen-bonding beta-sheet structure as evidenced by the appearance of a strong band at 1614 cm(-1) at the expense of other regular structures. These results confirm that this structure may be essential for the formation of a gel network as it was previously shown for other globular proteins. However, this study reveals, for the first time, that there is a close relationship between conformation of beta-lactoglobulin in solution and its capacity to form a gel. Indeed, it is shown that conditions which promote predominance of intermolecular beta-sheet in solution such as pH 4, prevent the formation of gel in conditions used by increasing thermal stability of beta-lactoglobulin. On the basis of these findings, it is suggested that by controlling the extent of intermolecular beta-structure of the protein in solution, it is possible to modify the ability of protein to form a gel and as a consequence to control the properties of gels.

The effect of high pressure on thermolysin

The effects of high pressure on thermolysin activity and spectroscopic properties were studied. Thermolysin showed distinct pressure-induced activation with a maximum observed at 200-250 MPa for a dipeptide amide substrate and at 100-120 MPa for a heptapeptide substrate. By examining the pressure dependence of the hydrolytic rate for the former substrate using a high pressure stopped-flow apparatus as a mixing device under elevated pressures, the activation volume of the reaction was -71 ml mol(-1) at 25 degrees C. Delta V++ was accompanied by a negative activation expansibility and a value of -95 ml mol(-1) was obtained at 45 degrees C. A prolonged incubation of thermolysin under high pressure, however, caused a time-dependent deactivation. These changes due to pressure were monitored by several spectroscopic methods. The fourth-derivative absorbance spectrum showed an irreversible change, mostly in the tyrosine and tryptophan regions, at a pressure higher than 300 MPa. Intrinsic fluorescence and circular dichroism measurements of thermolysin in solution also detected irreversible changes. All these measurements indicated that a change occurred at higher pressures and are explained by a simple two-state transition model accompanied by a large, negative change in the volume of reaction.

Site-specific modification of rabbit muscle creatine kinase with sulfhydryl-specific fluorescence probe by use of hydrostatic pressure

We investigated the effect of pressure on the reactivity of cysteine residues of rabbit muscle creatine kinase (CK). Performing the fluorescent modification under high pressure, a unique sulfhydryl group (Cys-253) of CK was labeled, in addition to Cys-282, which is known as a single reactive sulfhydryl under ambient conditions. CK is composed of two identical subunits, containing four cysteine residues in each subunit. Cys-282 plays an important role in enzymatic activity. In the pressure range from 0.1 MPa to 300 MPa, only one sulfhydryl group for each subunit of CK reacted with the reagents. However, at 400 MPa 2 sulfhydryl groups were modified. The 2-nitro-5-thiocyanobenzoic acid (NTCB) cleavage method revealed that both Cys-282 and Cys-253 were modified at 400 MPa. The chemical modification of Cys-282 induced a loss of enzymatic activity. By taking advantage of the modification under high pressure, selective modification of Cys-253 with 5-[N-(iodoacetamidoethyl)amino]-naphthalene-1-sulfonate (IAEDANS) was performed. A reversible blocking of Cys-282 at atmospheric pressure was followed by the reaction of Cys-253 with the fluorescent probe at 400 MPa. After the decompression, Cys-282 was unblocked, and obtained Cys-253-modified CK retained up to 64% of the catalytic activity of the intact CK. The fluorescent properties of IAEDANS covalently bound at Cys-253 were not significantly different from those of IAEDANS covalently bound at Cys-282.

Structure of pressure-induced denatured state of human serum albumin: a comparison with the intermediate in urea-induced denaturation

The structure of human serum albumin (HSA) in the pressure-induced denatured state was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy. HSA undergoes a conformational change in the pressure range from 0.1 MPa to 400 MPa, at 25 degrees C. Several ligands bind to specific sites in HSA, and the fluorescence spectra of these ligands were used to study the conformational state of this protein. The warfarin-binding site (site I) and the dansylsarcosine-binding site (site II), are located in subdomains II and III, respectively. The fluorescence spectra of these probes reflected the structural changes in each of these subdomains. Dansylsarcosine completely dissociated from its binding site in domain III above 300 MPa, but substantial affinity of warfarin remained in this pressure range. Similar results were obtained for the urea-induced denaturation of HSA; although dansylsarcosine completely dissociated at urea concentration above 6 M, warfarin remained bound to site I in domain II at these concentrations. These results suggest that the structure of domain III is unfolded both in the initial stages of both pressure- and urea-induced denaturation of HSA. HSA possesses a single tryptophan residue (Trp-214) in domain II, and fluorescence from this residue reflects structural changes in this domain. In the urea-induced denatured state of HSA, a red-shift in the wavelength of maximum fluorescence occurred over urea concentrations ranging from 4 M to 6 M. This shift indicated that a structural change in domain II occurred simultaneously with the unfolding of domain III in this concentration range. On other hand, the shift in the wavelength of maximum fluorescence of Trp-214 was comparatively small in the pressure range from 0.1 MPa to 400 MPa indicating that the environment of Trp-214 was not affected. These results indicate that preferential unfolding of domain III occurs in the pressure-induced denatured state of HSA.

The pressure-induced structural change of bovine alpha-lactalbumin as studied by a fluorescence hydrophobic probe

The effect of pressure on bovine alpha-lactalbumin (LA) has been investigated by fluorescence methods. The intrinsic fluorescence spectra of holo-LA (CaII-bound LA) hardly changed in its intensity and maximum wavelength on increasing the pressure up to 400 MPa. In the intrinsic fluorescence spectrum of apo-LA (CaII-depleted form) the maximum wavelength was red-shifted, and the intensity was increased to a large extent by increasing pressure. The fluorescence titrations of both forms of LA were performed with a fluorescent hydrophobic probe 1,1'-bis(4-anilino)naphthalene-5,5'-disulfonate (bis-ANS) at various pressures, and binding constants (Kb) of bis-ANS were calculated. The Kb-value for holo-LA slightly decreased from 0.1 to 100 MPa and increased above 200 MPa. The Kb value for apo-LA gradually increased with increasing pressure up to 400 MPa. These results were explained by the difference in hydrophobic characteristics of holo- and apo-LA.