Formation of quasi-regular compact structure of poly(methacrylic acid) upon an interaction with alpha-chymotrypsin

Monomer formation and function of p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase in reverse micelles and in dimethylsulfoxide/water mixtures

It has previously been postulated that the dimeric form of the flavoprotein p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase (PHBH) is important for catalysis. Here it is demonstrated that the monomeric form of PHBH is active. In a water/AOT/isooctane reverse micellar system, the function of the monomeric and dimeric forms of PHBH could be observed separately by varying the size of the micelles. A considerable decrease in the K(M) value for p-hydroxybenzoate (POHB) was found for monomeric PHBH, accompanied by a 1.5-fold decrease in enzymatic activity. The same tendency was observed when monomers of PHBH were formed by adding DMSO to the buffer. The FAD in PHBH and PHBH labeled with the fluorescence dye Alexa488 was investigated by time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy to observe monomer formation in water/DMSO mixtures. Monomer formation of PHBH occurred gradually with increasing DMSO content in the mixture. Pure PHBH monomers were detected at DMSO concentrations of 30 % (v/v) and higher.

Molecular details of ovalbumin-pectin complexes at the air/water interface: a spectroscopic study

To stabilize air-water interfaces, as in foams, the adsorption of surface-active components is a prerequisite. An approach to controlling the surface activity of proteins is noncovalent complex formation with a polyelectrolyte in the bulk phase. The molecular properties of egg white ovalbumin in a complex with pectin in the bulk solution and at air/water interfaces were studied using drop tensiometry (ADT) and time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy techniques. The complex formation of ovalbumin with pectin in the bulk resulted in the formation of a compact structure with a different spatial arrangement depending on the protein/pectin ratio. Complex formation did not provide an altered protein structure, whereas the conformational stability was slightly increased in the complex. In excess pectin, an overall condensed complex structure is formed, whereas at limited pectin concentrations the structure of the complex is more "segmental". The characteristics of these structures did not depend on pH in the 7.0 to 4.5 regime. Interaction with pectin in the bulk solution resulted in a significantly slower adsorption of the protein to the air/water interface. The limited mobility of the protein at the interface was found for both ovalbumin and ovalbumin-pectin complexes. From both the rotational dynamics and total fluorescence properties of the protein in the absence and presence of pectin, it was suggested that the complex does not dissociate at the interface. Ovalbumin in the complex retains its initial "aqueous" microenvironment at the interface, whereas in the absence of pectin the microenvironment of the protein changed to a more nonpolar one. This work illustrates a more general property of polyelectrolytes, namely, the ability to retain a protein in its microenvironment. Insight into this property provides a new tool for better control of the surface activity of complex biopolymer systems.

Adsorption of bovine serum albumin on template-polymerized chitosan/poly(methacrylic acid) complexes

Particulate systems composed of polyelectrolyte complexes (PEC) based on chitosan and poly(methacrylic acid) were obtained via template polymerization. The resultant particles were characterized as having regions with different charge densities: chitosan predominating in the core and poly(methacrylic acid) at the surface, the particles being negatively charged, as a consequence. Albumin was adsorbed on these particles (after cross-linking with glutardialdehyde), and pH was controlled to obtain two conditions: (i) adsorption of positively charged albumin and (ii) adsorption of albumin at its isoelectric point. Adsorption isotherms and zeta-potential measurements showed that albumin adsorption was controlled by hydrogen bonding/van der Waals interactions and that brush-like structures may enhance the adsorption of albumin on these particles. It was also found that shearing can induce desorption of albumin from the PEC surface, depending on the continuous phase albumin concentration.

Interaction of Polyanions with Basic Proteins, 2

The ability of synthetic polyanions to suppress thermo-aggregation of the oligomeric enzymes (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase, and aspartate aminotransferase) has been established. The ability of the polyanions to reduce the thermo-aggregation increased in the order poly(methacrylic acid) < poly(acrylic acid) < sodium poly(styrene sulphonate), which agreed well with the increase, in the same order, of the charge density of the chains. The lengthening of the chains, as well as the rise in their relative content, resulted in an increase of the ability to reduce thermo-aggregation, mentioned above. Complete prevention of the enzyme aggregation was achieved when highly charged polyanions of a relatively high degree of polymerization were used in a concentration sufficient to solubilize the protein. Complexing with the polyanions prevented thermo-aggregation of the enzymes, but not their thermo-denaturation. The adverse effect of the complexing polyanions on the catalytic activity was reduced by the addition of a synthetic polycation, which resulted in a significant reactivation (up to 40%) of the enzyme. The possibility of preventing the thermo-aggregation of enzyme molecules and then partly restoring the enzyme activity, appears to be of particular interest when studying the aggregation mechanism of proteins that are prone to form the amyloid structures responsible for the development of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy and Huntington disease. This finding can also be considered as an important step in the creation of artificial chaperones.

Reversible self-association of ovalbumin at air-water interfaces and the consequences for the exerted surface pressure

In this study the relation between the ability of protein self-association and the surface properties at air-water interfaces is investigated using a combination of spectroscopic techniques. Three forms of chicken egg ovalbumin were obtained with different self-associating behavior: native ovalbumin, heat-treated ov-albumin-being a cluster of 12-16 predominantly noncovalently bound proteins, and succinylated ovalbumin, as a form with diminished aggregation properties due to increased electrostatic repulsion. While the bulk diffusion of aggregated protein is clearly slower compared to monomeric protein, the efficiency of transport to the interface is increased, just like the efficiency of sticking to rather than bouncing from the interface. On a timescale of hours, the aggregated protein dissociates and adopts a conformation comparable to that of native protein adsorbed to the interface. The exerted surface pressure is higher for aggregated material, most probably because the deformability of the particle is smaller. Aggregated protein has a lower ability to desorb from the interface upon compression of the surface layer, resulting in a steadily increasing surface pressure upon reducing the available area for the surface layer. This observation is opposite to what is observed for succinylated protein that may desorb more easily and thereby suppresses the buildup of a surface pressure. Generally, this work demonstrates that modulating the ability of proteins to self-associate offers a tool to control the rheological properties of interfaces.

Stabilization and activation of alpha-chymotrypsin in water-organic solvent systems by complex formation with oligoamines

Formation of enzyme-oligoamine complexes was suggested as an approach to obtain biocatalysts with enhanced resistance towards inactivation in water-organic media. Complex formation results in broadening (by 20-40% v/v ethanol) of the range of cosolvent concentrations where the enzyme retains its catalytic activity (stabilization effect). At moderate cosolvent concentrations (20-40% v/v) complex formation activates the enzyme (by 3-6 times). The magnitude of activation and stabilization effects increases with the number of possible electrostatic contacts between the protein surface and the molecules of oligoamines (OA). Circular dichroism spectra in the far-UV region show that complex formation stabilizes protein conformation and prevents aggregation in water-organic solvent mixtures. Two populations of the complexes with different thermodynamic stabilities were found in alpha-chymotrypsin (CT)-OA systems depending on the CT/OA ratio. The average dissociation constants and stoichiometries of both low- and high-affinity populations of the complexes were estimated. It appears that it is the low-affinity sites on the CT surface that are responsible for the activation effect.