Sustainable soy protein microsponges for efficient removal of lead (II) from aqueous environments

Protein-based materials recently emerged as good candidates for water cleaning applications, due to the large availability of the constituent material, their biocompatibility and the ease of preparation. In this work, new adsorbent biomaterials were created from Soy Protein Isolate (SPI) in aqueous solution using a simple environmentally friendly procedure. Protein microsponge-like structures were produced and characterized by means of spectroscopy and fluorescence microscopy methods. The efficiency of these structures in removing lead (Pb²⁺) ions from aqueous solutions was evaluated by investigating the adsorption mechanisms. The molecular structure and, consequently, the physico-chemical properties of these aggregates can be readily tuned by selecting the pH of the solution during production. In particular, the presence of β-structures typical of amyloids as well as an environment characterized by a lower dielectric constant seem to enhance metal binding affinity revealing that hydrophobicity and water accessibility of the material are key features affecting the adsorption efficiency. Presented results provide new knowledge on how raw plant proteins can be valorised for the production of new biomaterials. This may offer extraordinary opportunities towards the design and production of new tailorable biosorbents which can also be exploited for several cycles of purification with minimal reduction in performance. SYNOPSIS: Innovative, sustainable plant-protein biomaterials with tunable properties are presented as green solution for water purification from lead (II) and the structure-function relationship is discussed.

Polysorbate 80 controls Morphology, structure and stability of human insulin Amyloid-Like spherulites

Amyloid protein aggregates are not only associated with neurodegenerative diseases and may also occur as unwanted by-products in protein-based therapeutics. Surfactants are often employed to stabilize protein formulations and reduce the risk of aggregation. However, surfactants alter protein-protein interactions and may thus modulate the physicochemical characteristics of any aggregates formed. Human insulin aggregation was induced at low pH in the presence of varying concentrations of the surfactant polysorbate 80. Various spectroscopic and imaging methods were used to study the aggregation kinetics, as well as structure and morphology of the formed aggregates. Molecular dynamics simulations were employed to investigate the initial interaction between the surfactant and insulin. Addition of polysorbate 80 slowed down, but did not prevent, aggregation of insulin. Amyloid spherulites formed under all conditions, with a higher content of intermolecular beta-sheets in the presence of the surfactant above its critical micelle concentration. In addition, a denser packing was observed, leading to a more stable aggregate. Molecular dynamics simulations suggested a tendency for insulin to form dimers in the presence of the surfactant, indicating a change in protein-protein interactions. It is thus shown that surfactants not only alter aggregation kinetics, but also affect physicochemical properties of any aggregates formed.

Lead(II) ions adsorption onto amyloid particulates: An in depth study

The production of new cost-effective biocompatible sorbent sustainable materials, with natural origins, able to remove heavy metals from water resources is nowadays highly desirable in order to reduce pollution and increase clean water availability. In this context, self-assembled protein materials with amyloid structures seem to have a great potential as natural platform for a broader development of highly-tunable structures. In this work we show how protein particulates, a generic form of protein aggregates, with spherical micro sized shape can be used as adsorbents of Pb²⁺ ions from aqueous solution. The effect of pH, ionic medium, ionic strength and temperature of the metal ion solution on the adsorption ability and affinity has been evaluated revealing the complexity of adsorption mechanisms which are the result of the balance of specific interactions with functional groups in protein structure and not specific ones common to all polypeptide chains, and possibly related to amyloid state and to modification of particulates hydration layer.

pH-dependent disintegration of insulin amyloid fibrils monitored with atomic force microscopy and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Aggregation of insulin into amyloid fibrils is characterized by the conversion of the native secondary structure of the peptide into an enriched ß-sheet conformation. In vitro, the growth or disintegration of amyloid fibrils can be influenced by various external factors such as pH, temperature etc. While current studies mainly focus on the influence of environmental conditions on the growth process of insulin fibrils, the present study investigates the effect of pH changes on the morphology and secondary structure of mature fibrils. In the experiments, insulin is fibrillated at pH 2.5 and the grown mature fibrils are suspended in pH 4-7 solutions. The obtained structures are analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Initially grown mature fibrils from pH 2.5 solutions show a long and intertwined morphology. Increasing the solution pH initiates the gradual disintegration of the filamentous morphology into unordered aggregates. These observations are supported by SERS experiments, where the spectra of the mature fibrils show mainly a β-pleated sheet conformation, while the amide I band region of the amorphous aggregates indicate exclusively α-helix/unordered structures. The results demonstrate that no complex reagent is required for the disintegration of insulin fibrils. Simply regulating the pH of the environment induces local changes in the protonation state within the peptide chains. This effectively disrupts the well-ordered β-sheet structure network based on hydrogen bonds.

Conformational Transitions upon Maturation Rule Surface and pH-Responsiveness of α-Lactalbumin Microparticulates

De novo designed protein supramolecular structures are nowadays attracting much interest as highly performing biomaterials. While a clear advantage is provided by the intrinsic biocompatibility and biodegradability of protein and peptide building blocks, developing sustainable and green bottom up approaches for finely tuning the material properties still remains a challenge. Here, we present an experimental study on the formation of protein microparticles in the form of particulates from the protein α-lactalbumin using bulk mixing in water solution and high temperature. Once formed, the structure and stability of these spherical protein condensates change upon further thermal incubation while the size of aggregates does not significantly increase. Combining advanced microscopy and spectroscopy methods, we prove that this process, named maturation, is characterized by a gradual increase of amyloid-like structure in protein particulates, an enhancement in surface roughness and in molecular compactness, providing a higher stability and resistance of the structure in acidic environments. When dissolved at pH 2, early stage particulates disassemble into a homogeneous population of small oligomers, while the late stage particulates remain unaffected. Particulates at the intermediate stage of maturation partially disassemble into a heterogeneous population of fragments. Importantly, differently matured microparticles show different features when loading a model lipophilic molecule. Our findings suggest conformational transitions localized at the interface as a key step in the maturation of amyloid protein condensates, promoting this phenomenon as an intrinsic knob to tailor the properties of protein microparticles formed via bulk mixing in aqueous solution. This provides a simple and sustainable platform for the design and realization of protein microparticles for tailored applications.

Solvent Perturbation of Protein Structures - A Review Study with Lectins

Use of organic molecules as co-solvent with water, the ubiquitous biological solvent, to perturb the structure of proteins is popular in the research area of protein structure and folding. These organic co-solvents are believed to somehow mimic the environment near the cell membrane. Apart from that they induce non-native states which can be present in the protein folding pathway or those states also may be representative of the off pathway structures leading to amyloid formation, responsible for various fatal diseases. In this review, we shall focus on organic co-solvent induced structure perturbation of various members of lectin family. Lectins are excellent model systems for protein folding study because of its wide occurrence, diverse structure and versatile biological functions. Lectins were mainly perturbed by two fluoroalcohols - 2,2,2- trifluoroethanol and 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropanol whereas glycerol, ethylene glycol and polyethylene glycols were used in some cases. Overall, all native lectins were denatured by alcohols and most of the denatured lectins have predominant helical secondary structure. But characterization of the helical states and the transition pathway for various lectins revealed diverse result.

Formation of amyloid fibrils from soy protein hydrolysate: Effects of selective proteolysis on β-conglycinin

The soy protein hydrolysate subjected to selective proteolysis on β-conglycinin (referred to as DβH, contrast group) and a control soy protein isolate sample without addition of protease (referred to as CSPI, blank group) were adopted as experimental samples. By employing the "subtraction" mode of logical thinking, we aimed to compare the differences between CSPI and DβH on fibrillation at pH2.0 with heating at 95°C. The results showed when heated for 60min, CSPI tended to form short worm-like fibrils while DβH long semiflexible fibrils. When heating time was prolonged to 360min, the fibrils formed from them both exhibited cluster. Whereas when heated for 720min, no fibrillar aggregates appeared from them. This study would help explore the effects of β-conglycinin on the fibril formation of soy protein isolate by a new way.

Symmetry-Directed Self-Organization in Peptide Nanoassemblies through Aromatic π-π Interactions

Almost all biological systems are assemblies of one or more biomolecules from nano- to macrodimensions. Unlike inorganic molecules, peptide systems attune with the conceptual framework of aggregation models when forming nanoassemblies. Three significant recent theoretical models have indicated that nucleation, end-to-end association, and geometry of growth are determined primarily by the size and electrostatics of the individual basic building blocks. In this study, we tested six model systems, differentially modulating the prominence of three design variables, namely, aromatic π-π interactions, local electrostatics, and overall symmetry of the basic building unit. Our results indicate that the crucial design elements in a peptide-based nanoassembly are (a) a stable extended π-π interaction network, (b) size, and (c) overall symmetry of the basic building blocks. The six model systems represent all of the design variables in the best manner possible, considering the complexity of a biomolecule. The results provide important directives in deciding the morphology and crystallinity of peptide nanoassemblies.