Kinetics of Structural Transitions Induced by Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate in α-Chymotrypsin

The temporal changes in circular dichroism at 222 and 260 nm were recorded by using stopped-flow spectroscopy after mixing α-chymotrypsin solutions with sodium dodecyl sulfate solutions. Simultaneously with the circular dichroism signal, the fluorescence emission was recorded. Changes in the secondary and tertiary structures of chymotrypsin induced by sodium dodecyl sulfate are characterized by either three or four one-way reactions with relaxation amplitudes and times precisely determined by an advanced numerical procedure of Kuzmič. Quantitatively, transitions within the secondary and tertiary structures of the protein are significantly different. Moreover, changes in the tertiary structure depend on the type of recorded signal (either circular dichroism or fluorescence) and the wavelength of the incident radiation. The latter observation is particularly interesting as it indicates that the contributions of protein's different tryptophans to the total recorded fluorescence depend on the excitation wavelength. We present several results justifying this hypothesis.

The transition of alpha-helix to beta-structure of poly(L-lysine) induced by phosphatidic acid vesicles and its kinetics at alkaline pH

Static and dynamic circular dichroism (CD) measurements were carried out for poly(L-lysine) in suspensions of dilauroylphosphatidic acid (DLPA) vesicles at alkaline pH (8-11.5). The static experiments demonstrated that the alpha-helix of poly(L-lysine) induced by deprotonation in alkaline solutions is transformed to beta-structure by the addition of DLPA vesicles. Stopped-flow CD measurements for such order-to-order transition revealed that the rate determining step is the unfolding process of alpha-helix to random coil. Previously, we have reported the conformational change of poly(L-lysine) induced by DLPA vesicles at neutral pH, where the beta-structure transition from random coil was observed. Thus two types of transition of poly(L-lysine) are observed depending on bulk pH, i.e., from random coil to beta-structure and from alpha-helix to beta-structure. So far the phospholipid-induced conformations of poly(L-lysine) were interpreted in terms of counterbalance between the positively charged terminals of the lysyl chains and the negative headgroups of the phospholipid in vesicle. However, present work indicates the direct interaction other than electrostatic interaction between the lysyl chain and phosphate groups of the lipid.

Kinetic aspects of the interaction of horse heart cytochrome c with sodium dodecyl sulfate

The sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) concentration dependence of spectral changes in circular dichroism (CD) and in absorbance of cytochrome c were examined in the far-ultraviolet region, aromatic region, and the Soret band. The Soret peak obtained in 0.60 mM SDS was nine times greater than that of the native state. (The critical micelle concentration, CMC, of SDS was 2.2 mM in the phosphate buffer used.) The results indicated that the drastic change at the Soret band did not accompany the corresponding large-scale change in secondary structure of the protein. In the stopped-flow measurements, two and three processes were followed at 406 nm below and above the CMC, respectively. At 289 nm only one process was observed, and this corresponded to the second process at 406 nm. Therefore, the second process at 406 nm was considered to be a change in tertiary structure around the heme group. The first process and the third process seemed to reflect a change in the heme environment; the former appeared to be due to a solvent effect and the latter due to a binding effect of a large number of dodecyl sulfate ions.