FTIR studies of recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor in aqueous solutions: secondary structure, disulfide reduction and thermal behavior

Heterogeneity of the state and functionality of water molecules sorbed in an amorphous sugar matrix

An amorphous matrix, comprised of sugar molecules, is frequently used in the pharmaceutical industry. An amorphous sugar matrix exhibits high hygroscopicity, and it has been established that the sorbed water lowers the glass transition temperature T(g) of the amorphous sugar matrix. It is naturally expected that the random allocation and configuration of sugar molecules would result in heterogeneity of states for sorbed water. However, most analyses of the behavior of water, when sorbed to an amorphous sugar matrix, have implicitly assumed that all of the sorbed water molecules are in a single state. In this study, the states of water molecules sorbed in an amorphous sugar matrix were analyzed by Fourier-transform IR spectroscopy and a Fourier self-deconvolution technique. When sorbed water molecules were classified into five states, according to the extent to which they are restricted, three of the states resulted in a lowering of T(g) of an amorphous sugar matrix, while the other two were independent of the plasticization of the matrix. This finding provides an explanation for the paradoxical fact that compression at several hundreds of MPa significantly decreases the equilibrium water content at a given RH, while the T(g) remains unchanged.

Study on the mechanisms of chitosan and its derivatives used as transdermal penetration enhancers

The efficacy of chitosan (CS) and its derivatives used as transdermal penetration enhancers has been confirmed in our previous research. This study investigated the mechanisms of penetration enhancement by CS and its derivatives, i.e., N-trimethyl chitosan (TMC) with different degree of quaternization (DQ) and mono-N-carboxylmethyl chitosan (MCC). After treatment with CS, TMCs or MCC, the secondary structure changes of keratin in stratum corneum (SC) from mice were examined by an Attenuated Total Reflection-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) combined with the application of the second-order derivative, deconvolution and curve-fitting. The water content in the SC was also studied by ATR-FTIR. HaCaT cell lines were employed as the cell models in the study. HaCaT cells were first treated with blank D-Hanks solution, CS or its derivatives, and were then fluorescent labeled with DiBAC(4) (3). The change of membrane potential was measured by a flow cytometer (FCM). Alternatively, the treated HaCaT cells were labeled with NBD-C(6)-HPC and the change of membrane fluidity was examined under a Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope (CLSM). It was found that CS, TMCs and MCC could significantly affect the secondary structure of keratin in SC in different ways. Although the amide II absorption peak of keratin moved to a lower wave number following treatment with CS, TMCs, or MCC, the beta-turning structure of keratin was converted to beta-sheeting and random coiling after treatment with TMCs and was converted to beta-sheeting and alpha-helix following treatment with MCC and CS. At the same time, CS and its derivatives all could increase the water content of SC, decrease HaCaT cells membrane potentials and enhance HaCaT cells membrane fluidity significantly. The effect of TMCs appeared to be independent of their DQ. The results suggest that the mechanisms of transdermal enhancement of CS, TMCs and MCC are closely related to their effects on the secondary structure of keratin and water content in SC, cell membrane potential and fluidity.

Characteristics of hydrogen bond formation between sugar and polymer in freeze‐dried mixtures under different rehumidification conditions and its impact on the glass transition temperature

The characteristics of hydrogen bond formation between trehalose and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in amorphous mixtures at different hydration states were quantitatively investigated. Amorphous trehalose-PVP mixtures were prepared by freeze-drying and equilibrated at different relative humidities (RH). Infrared (IR) spectra of the trehalose-PVP mixtures were obtained by Fourier transform IR spectroscopy,(FTIR) and the IR band corresponding to C=O groups of PVP was deconvolved into the component bands responsible for C=O groups that were free and restricted by hydrogen bonds, to estimate the degree of the trehalose-PVP interactions. The FTIR analysis indicated that approximately 80% of the C=O groups of PVP formed hydrogen bonds with trehalose in the presence of more than 3 g of trehalose per gramme of PVP, independent of the RH. IR analysis of the O--H stretching vibration of the sugar demonstrated that the presence of PVP lead to an increase in the free hydroxyl groups of trehalose that did not form hydrogen bonds at RH 0%. On the other hand, the water sorption behavior of the trehalose-PVP mixtures suggested that rehumidification diminished the effect of PVP on increasing the free OH groups. Thus a peculiar relationship may exist between Tg, RH and the composition of the mixture: The presence of PVP increased Tg at RHs 0 and above 23% but decreased Tg at 11%.

A New Approach for Determining the Stability of Recombinant Human Epidermal Growth Factor by Thermal Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Microspectroscopy

Based on Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy, the conformation of rhEGF under the influence of pH, heat treatment, chaotropic salts, concentration of salt and protein structure perturbants was studied. The FTIR spectrum of rhEGF showed that major secondary structures from amide I bands composed of 40.6% beta-sheets, 25.0% reverse turns, 16.5% random coils, 13.0% loops and 4.9% side-chain structures. At extreme pH conditions (pH < 4 and pH > 8), there were changes in intensity of the bands attributed to loop (1658 cm(-1)) and random coil structures, and these bands shifted to lower wavenumbers, indicating changes in protein conformation. Thermal denaturation of rhEGF occurred at 40-76 degrees C and the formation of intermolecular beta-aggregates was revealed by the FTIR spectra. Thermal-irreversible property of rhEGF after second-heating treatment suggested that rhEGF has a poor thermal stability. While investigating the stability of rhEGF in the presence of chaotropic salts, anions induced protein unfolding of rhEGF more significantly than cations. The optimal stabilizing effect was found at the 2 M NaCl added to rhEGF, and expressed the structure of rhEGF more stable on the many components. The bands of loop structure (1654 cm(-1)), beta-sheet (1638 cm(-1)) and intermolecular antiparallel beta-aggregation formation (1694, 1619 and 1612 cm(-1)) seem to be "marked" to be more sensitive in determining environmental changes of rhEGF for FTIR microspectroscopy.

Aggregation kinetics of bovine serum albumin studied by FTIR spectroscopy and light scattering

To investigate which type of structural and conformational changes is involved in the aggregation processes of bovine serum albumin (BSA), we have performed thermal aggregation kinetics in D(2)O solutions of this protein. The tertiary conformational changes are followed by Amide II band, the secondary structural changes and the formation of beta-aggregates by the Amide I' band and, finally, the hydrodynamic radius of aggregates by dynamic light scattering. The results show, as a function of pD, that: tertiary conformational changes are more rapid as pD increases; the aggregation proceeds through formation of ordered aggregates (oligomers) at pD far from the isoelectric point of the protein; disordered structures add as the pD decreases. Moreover, beta-aggregates seem to contribute only to oligomers formation, as showed by the good correlation between kinetics of scattering intensity and IR absorption intensity. These results indicate for BSA a general mechanism of aggregation composed by partial unfolding of the tertiary structure and by the decrease of alpha-helix and random coil contents in favor of beta-sheet aggregates. This mechanism strictly depends on pD and gives rise to almost two distinct types of macromolecular aggregates.

FTIR study of the thermal denaturation of alpha-actinin in its lipid-free and dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol-bound states and the central and N-terminal domains of alpha-actinin in D2O

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has been carried out to investigate the thermal denaturation of alpha-actinin and its complexes with dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol (DOPG) vesicles. The amide I regions in the deconvolved spectra of alpha-actinin in the lipid-free and DOPG-bound states are both consistent with predominantly alpha-helical secondary structure below the denaturation temperatures. Studies of the temperature dependence of the spectra revealed that for alpha-actinin alone the secondary structure was unaltered up to 40 degrees C. But, in the presence of DOPG vesicles, the thermal stability of the secondary structure of alpha-actinin increased to 55 degrees C. The thermal denaturation mechanisms of the lipid-free and DOPG-bound states of alpha-actinin also vary. The secondary structure of the lipid-free alpha-actinin changed to be predominantly unordered upon heating to 65 degrees C and above. Whereas, the original alpha-helical structure in the DOPG-bound alpha-actinin retained even at 70 degrees C, the highest temperature we examined. Analysis of the reduction in amide II intensities, which is due to peptide H-D exchange upon heating alpha-actinin in D2O, showed that partially unfolded states with increased solvent accessibility but substantial secondary structures could be observed from 35 to 40 degrees C only if DOPG vesicles were present. A so-called "protamine precipitation" method has been developed to purify the N-terminal domain of alpha-actinin by use of the fact that the central domain of alpha-actinin is negatively charged but the N-terminal domain is positively charged. Thermal denaturation of the central and N-terminal domains of alpha-actinin were then investigated with FTIR. The secondary structure of the N-terminal domain of alpha-actinin was found to be thermally sensitive below 35 degrees C, which is characterized as the increase of the alpha-helical structure at the expense of the random coil upon heating the N-terminal domain from 4 to 35 degrees C. The membrane-binding ability of the N-terminal domain of alpha-actinin was proposed in terms of the analysis of the local electrostatic properties of alpha-actinin and the assignment of the amide II bands in the FTIR spctra of alpha-actinin.