Comparison of the antioxidant activity of albumin from various animal species

We measured the antioxidant activity of human, rat, bovine, rabbit, and guinea pig albumins against the superoxide, hydroxyl, and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radicals. The albumins of different animal species did not differ in antioxidant activity against superoxide. Human and rat albumins exhibited antioxidant activity against hydroxyl radicals, but bovine, rabbit, and guinea pig albumins showed weaker antioxidant activity than human and rat albumins. Human, rat, rabbit, and guinea pig albumins, but not bovine albumin, exhibited strong antioxidant activity against DPPH radicals. Human and rat albumins with strong antioxidant activity against hydroxyl radicals contained methionine-123 in domain 1, but bovine, rabbit, and guinea pig albumins did not. Rat, rabbit, and guinea pig albumins with strong antioxidant activity against DPPH radicals had methionine-264 in domain 2. Human albumin did not have methionine-264, but methionine-298 and methionine-329 in domain 2. Bovine albumin, with the weakest antioxidant activity against DPPH radicals, contained no methionine residues in domain 2. These results suggest that methionine residues in domain 1 or 2 influence the antioxidant activity of albumin.     

Studies on the mechanism of binding of serum albumins to immobilized cibacron blue F3G A.

The interaction of Cibacron Blue F3G A-Sepharose 4B with several serum albumins was studied. Although all albumins used were fond to bind to this adsorbent, human serum albumin was bound to a far greater extent than were the others. From the results of competition experiments and n.m.r. studies of Cibacron Blue and/or bilirubin binding to human serum albumin it is proposed that the mechanism of the interaction between human serum albumin and cibacron Blue is consistent wit Cibacron Blue binding to bilirubin-binding sites. In contrast with these findings with human serum albumin, there is little or no interaction of Cibacron Blue and the bilirubin-binding sites of albumins from rabbit, horse, bovine or sheep sera, although some interaction occurs between Cibacron Blue and the fatty acid-binding sites of these proteins. Structural analogues of Cibacron Blue have been used to investigate the binding of albumins to these ligands.     

The effect of ligand presaturation on the interaction of serum albumins with an immobilized Cibacron Blue 3G-A studied by affinity gel electrophoresis.

The interaction of the immobilized triazine dye Cibacron Blue 3G-A with rat, rabbit, sheep, goat, bovine and human serum albumins was studied by affinity gel electrophoresis. Dissociation constants were estimated in each instance and showed human serum albumin to have a significantly higher affinity for the dye than did albumin from any other species. Pretreatment of the defatted proteins with bilirubin (3 mol of bilirubin/mol of protein) did not increase the dissociation constants of the serum albumins, whereas pretreatment with palmitate (7 mol of palmitate/mol of protein) increased the dissociation constant in all cases: 3-fold for human serum albumin, 15-fold for other serum albumins. Increasing the bilirubin/albumin ratio (to 7:1) did not affect the dissociation constant of the albumins studied. Decreasing the palmitate/albumin ratio decreased the dissociation constant for human serum albumin, but did not affect those of bovine and rat albumins. Altering the chain length of the presaturating fatty acid dramatically changed the dissociation constant of both human and bovine serum albumins. Butyrate, hexanoate, octanoate and decanoate did not significantly influence the dissociation constants of bovine and human serum albumins for Cibacron Blue, whereas laurate, myristate and palmitate greatly increased the dissociation constant. These data are discussed in relationship to the behaviour of albumins during dye--agarose column chromatography. In Addendum the effect of nucleotide presaturation on the interaction between Bacillus stearothermophilus 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and the immobilized triazine dyes Cibacron Blue 3G-A and Procion Red HE-3B was examined, and the implications for dye--ligand chromatography are discussed.     

Immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography of serum albumins.

The interaction of several serum albumins with chelated (iminodiacetate, IDA) and immobilized (agarose-IDA) metal ions, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+, was studied. There was no retention of human, bovine, porcine, murine and avian albumins on IDA-Zn(II) and IDA-Co(II) columns. However, all albumins studied, i.e., those of: man, cow, pig, dog, rabbit, rat, mouse, chicken and pigeon were retained on IDA-Cu(II) columns, and all except dog albumin were retained also on IDA-Ni(II). The recognition of albumins by chelated and immobilized transition metals seems to be related to an affinity for the imidazole side chains. It is postulated that one to three imidazoles is involved in this interaction, under the employed experimental conditions (pH 7.0; 1 M sodium chloride). There is no evidence for any significant contribution of tryptophan or cysteine (Cys 34) residues to the chromatographic event. The retention of defatted albumin and albumin oligomers (human), on IDA-Cu(II) columns was not significantly different from that of non-defatted albumin or albumin monomer, respectively.     

Microcalorimetric study of the domain organization of serum albumin

Scanning microcalorimetry was used for studying the melting of the structure of human and bovine serum albumins and their fragments. It was shown that the melting of the native structure of serum albumin observed by the excessive heat absorption is a complex process which is described by three simple transitions overlapping in temperature. This means that the serum albumin molecule consists of three more or less independent cooperative structures, domains.     

Activation of delta5-3-ketosteroid isomerase of bovine adrenal microsomes by serum albumins.

The Δ⁵-3-ketosteroid isomerase (EC 5.3.3.1) of bovine adrenal microsomes is activated as much as 10- to 20-fold by micromolar concentrations of bovine serum albumin. Comparable activations are observed with the serum albumins of 10 other mammalian species, but are not seen with ovalbumin or conalbumin. Evidence that the activation is attributable to the serum albumins, rather than to a small, firmly-bound ligand, is based on: (1) Failure to remove the stimulatory activity from the albumin by chloroform extraction, dialysis, or gel filtration; (2) Destruction of the activity by heating or by trypsin digestion; (3) Precipitation of the stimulatory activity of bovine serum albumin by specific antibody. Bovine serum albumin induces small decreases in the Michaelis constant for Δ⁵-androstene-3,17-dione, but most of the activational effect reflects an increase in the maximum velocity. Low concentrations of Triton X-100, which are without effect on the isomerase activity, prevent the activation by bovine serum albumin.     

Noninvolvement of surface lysine residues of bovine serum albumin in bilirubin binding

Interaction of bilirubin with bovine serum albumin and its five succinylated forms was studied using fluorescence spectroscopy at two different ionic strengths i.e., 0.15 and 1.0 respectively. Affinity constant was found to be 1.8 x 10(7) litres/mole at 0.15 ionic strength which decreased to 4.4 x 10(6) litres/mole after 87% succinylation. On increasing ionic strength to 1.0, there was a slight decrease in affinity constant for native albumin. However, affinity constant remained same in 55 and 87% modified albumins at high ionic strength. These results suggest noninvolvement of surface lysine residues in bilirubin albumin complex.     

Trinitrophenylation of the bilirubin binding site of human serum albumin.

Human serum albumin has been modified with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid and picryl chloride in low ratios of reagents/albumin. The derivatives have been investigated by spectrophotometry and by thin layer chromatography of the hydrolysates in order to assess the specificity of the reagents. The same reaction conditions were used to modify albumin previously complexed with bilirubin in the ratio of 1:1. The affinity of bilirubin to the modified albumins was estimated by an improved perozidase method. It is concluded that TNBS and picryl chloride react almost quantity with epsilon-amino groups of lysine on the albumin molecule. The results also suggest that at least on TNBS reactive amino group and at least one picryl chloride reactive amino group are located in or near the high-affinity bilirubin binding site.     

A comparison of solution conformation and hydrodynamic properties of equine, porcine and rabbit serum albumin using viscometric measurements

This paper presents the results of viscosity determinations on aqueous solutions of equine, porcine and rabbit serum albumin over a wide range of concentrations and at temperatures ranging from 5 degrees C to (42-45) degrees C. The results are compared with human and bovine serum albumin previously studied. Viscosity-temperature dependence is discussed on the basis of the modified Arrhenius formula. The effective specific volume, the activation energy and entropy of viscous flow for all investigated albumins are compared. Viscosity-concentration dependence, in turn, is discussed on the basis of Mooney equation. Based on the assumption that theoretical and experimental values of Simha factor--at high temperature limit--are equal to each other, the hydrodynamic volume of the studied albumins has been calculated. The numerical values of a self-crowding factor were also obtained. At low concentration limit, the numerical values of the intrinsic viscosity and of Huggins coefficient were compared.     

Immunochemistry of serum albumin. VI. A dynamic approach to the immunochemical cross reactions of proteins using serum albumins from various species as models.

Antisera against bovine serum albumin were raised in two rabbits. Serial bleedings were obtained at different times after the first immunization, and antisera from these serial bleedings were not mixed but were kept and studied separately. The immunochemical cross-reactions of these antisera with serum albumins from bovine, goat, sheep, porcine, horse, human and chicken were determined by immunoadsorbent studies. These were done by titration so that the values of maximum (plateau) binding by each albumin of radioiodinated antibodies were determined. In each rabbit, the immunochemical cross-reactivity was not static but increased progressievly with time after the first immunization. In the interval 7 days to 398 days the increases in cross-reaction were extremely large. pH dissociation studies revealed that, together with the increase in cross-reactivity of a given albumin with time after immunization, there was a restriction in the antibody heterogeneity towards populations possessing higher affinity. These results provide a rational explanation for the different values of cross-reactivities for a given albumin from different laboratories. The findings are analyzed in relation to the antigenic structure of albumin and their significance in evolutionary studies discussed.     

Creatine kinase is modified by 2-chloromercuri-4-nitrophenol at the active site thiols with complete inactivation

Creatine kinase modified by mercurials has been reported to be fully reactive as the native enzyme. This was ascribed to the modification of a second class of thiol groups instead of the reactive thiols at the active site (Laue, M.C. and Quiocho, F.A. (1977) Biochemistry 16, 3838-3845). It has now been shown by spectrophotometric titration and fluorescence studies that 2-chloromercuri-4-nitrophenol (MNP) reacts preferentially with the active-site thiol. Moreover, if the activity of the modified enzyme is determined in the absence of added bovine serum albumin or other enzymes, as usually employed in coupled activity assay systems for creatine kinase, the modified enzyme is completely inactive. Addition of an excess of bovine serum albumin or rabbit muscle glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase restores the activity of the enzyme to over 80% of its original level. It appears that the active thiol groups at the active site of creatine kinase are after all modified by MNP with complete inactivation.     

Comparison of Methods for Separating Proteins Using Bisalbuminemia as a Model

Sera from bisalbuminemic chicken-turkey hybrids contain two albumins in equal amounts. These are observed as inherited electrophoretic variants and originate from the respective chicken and turkey parents. Sera from the hybrid birds served as a model system by which fractionating and identification procedures for evaluating serum albumin variants were compared.

The two albumins in the hybrid were isolated with preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and starch block preparative electrophoresis. Isoelectric focusing of the hybrid albumins resulted in the isolation of the turkey albumin. Interference of ampholinea prevented the complete isolation of the chicken albumin.

The two albumins in the hybrid have identical molecular weights and cannot be identified by sedimentation coefficient, gel filtration behavior, or sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Because of the close relatedness the chicken and turkey albumins in the hybrid cross reacted with rabbit anti-hybrid serum as well as with rabbit anti-chicken and anti-turkey sera.     

Molecular characteristics of methylglyoxal-modified bovine and human serum albumins. Comparison with glucose-derived advanced glycation endproduct-modified serum albumins

The amino acid modification, gel filtration chromatographic, and electrophoretic characteristics of bovine and human serum albumins irreversibly modified by methylglyoxal (MG-SA) and by glucose-derived advanced glycation endproducts (AGE-SA) were investigated. Methylglyoxal selectively modified arginine residues at low concentration (1 mM); at high methylglyoxal concentration (100 mM), the extent of arginine modification increased and lysine residues were also modified. Both arginine and lysine residues were modified in AGE-SA. Analytical gel filtration HPLC of serum albumin derivatives suggested that the proportion of dimers and oligomers increased with modification in both low and highly modified MG-SA and AGE-SA derivatives relative to unmodified serum albumins. In SDS-PAGE analysis, dimers and oligomers of low-modified MG-SA were dissociated into monomers, but not in highly modified MG-SA. MG-SA had increased anodic electrophoretic mobility under nondenaturing conditions atpH 8.6, indicating an increased net negative charge, which increased with extent of modification; highly modified MG-SA and AGE-SA had similar high electrophoretic mobilities. MG-SA derivatives were fluorescent: the fluorescence was characteristic of the arginine-derived imidazoloneN -(5-methyl-4-imidazolon-2-yl)ornithine, but other fluorophores were also present. AGE-SA had similar fluorescence, attributed, in part, to glucose-derived imidazolones. AGE formed from glucose-modified proteins and AGE-like compounds formed from methylglyoxal-modified proteins may both be signals for recognition and degradation of senescent macromolecules.Abbreviations AGE advanced glycation endproduct - BSA bovine serum albumin - HSA human serum albumin - MG-SA methylglyoxal-modified serum albumin - MG-BSA methylglyoxal-modified bovine serum albumin - MG-HSA methylglyoxal-modified human serum albumin - AGE-SA AGE-modified serum albumin - AGE-BSA AGE-modified bovine serum albumin - AGE-HSA AGE-modified human serum albumin - SDS-PAGE sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis - HPLC high-performance liquid chromatography - FFI 2-(2-furoyl)-4(5)-(2-furanyl)-1H-imidazole     

Immunological evidence that non-carboxymethyllysine advanced glycation end-products are produced from short chain sugars and dicarbonyl compounds in vivo

BACKGROUND: The Maillard reaction that leads to the formation of advanced glycation end-products (AGE) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of angiopathy in diabetic patients and in the aging process. Recently, it was proposed that AGE were not only created by glucose, but also by dicarbonyl compounds derived from the Maillard reaction, autoxidation of sugars and other metabolic pathways of glucose. In this study, we developed four types of non-carboxymethyllysine (CML) anti-AGE antibodies that recognized proteins modified by incubation with short chain sugars and dicarbonyl compounds. MATERIALS AND METHODS: AGE-modified serum albumins were prepared by incubation of rabbit serum albumin with glyceraldehyde, glycolaldehyde, methylglyoxal or glyoxal. After immunization of rabbits, four types of AGE-specific antisera were obtained that were specific for the AGE modification. To separate non-CML AGE antibodies (Ab) (non-CML AGE-Ab-2, -3, -4, and -5), these anti-AGE antisera were subjected to affinity chromatography on a matrix coupled with four kinds of AGE bovine serum albumin (BSA) or CML-BSA. These non-CML AGE antibodies were used to investigate the AGE content of serum obtained from diabetic patients on hemodialysis. RESULTS: Characterization of the four types of non-CML AGE antibodies obtained by immunoaffinity chromatography was performed by competitive ELISA and immunoblot analysis. Non-CML AGE-Ab-2 crossreacted with the protein modified by glyceraldehyde or glycolaldehyde. Non-CML AGE-Ab-3 and -Ab-4 specifically cross-reacted with protein modified by glycolaldehyde and methylglyoxal, respectively. NonCML AGE-Ab-5 cross-reacted with protein modified with glyoxal as well as methylglyoxal and glycolaldehyde. Three kinds of non-CML AGE (AGE-2, -4, and -5) were detected in diabetic serum as three peaks with apparent molecular weights of 200, 1.15, and 0.85 kD; whereas, AGE-3 was detected as two peaks with apparent molecular weights of 200 and 0.85 kD. CONCLUSION: We propose that various types of non-CML AGE are formed by the Maillard reaction, sugar autoxidation and sugar metabolism. These antibodies enable us to identify such compounds created by the Maillard reaction in vivo.     

Preparation of conjugated antigens based on zearalenone carboxymethyloxime and their use in immunoenzyme analysis

Zearalenone-6'-carboxymethyloxime was synthesized, and its conjugates with albumins and gelatin were prepared. Polyclonal rabbit antibodies against the conjugate with bovine serum albumin were shown to be highly specific to zearalenone and to have a lower cross-reactivity toward its structural analogues (alpha-zearalenol--28%, beta-zearalenol--6%, zearalanone--12%, and alpha-zearalanol--5%). The sensitivity of enzyme immunoassay using gelatin-based immobilized conjugates for determination of zearalenone in solutions was 1 ng/ml, and this allowed us to determine this substance in feed at a threshold concentration of 200 micrograms/kg.     

Preferential interaction of albumin-binding proteins, gp30 and gp18, with conformationally modified albumins. Presence in many cells and tissues with a possible role in catabolism.

Albumin binding to the endothelial surface apparently initiates its transcytosis via plasmalemmal vesicles and also increases capillary permselectivity. Several albumin-binding proteins, which, we call gp60, gp30, and gp18, have been identified; however, their functional relationship to each other is unclear. In this study, we show that gp30 and gp18 are both variably expressed by cultured rat fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells and are present in all tissues examined (heart, lung, skeletal muscle, diaphragm, duodenum, kidney, fat, brain, adrenal, pancreas, and liver). The binding of albumin-gold complexes (A-Au) to gp30 and gp18 was compared with that of native and modified albumins. Monomeric native bovine serum albumin (BSA) interacted much less avidly than A-Au and BSA that was chemically modified by formaldehyde (Fm-BSA) or maleic anhydride (Mal-BSA). Mal-BSA and A-Au have similar affinity constants for gp30 and gp18 (KD approximately 3-7 micrograms/ml (50-100 nM)), which is 1000-fold greater than BSA. These interactions were Ca(2+)-independent but sensitive to pH (< 6.0) and high salt concentrations (> or = 1.0 M). Comparative biochemical characterization provided evidence of conformational changes for Mal-BSA, Fm-BSA, and A-Au. Anti-native BSA serum recognizes BSA much more avidly than modified BSA. Mal-BSA, Fm-BSA, and A-Au are much more sensitive to trypsin digestion than BSA. Cellular processing was also examined. A-Au and Mal-BSA bound at the endothelial cell surface were degraded, whereas BSA was not. Our results indicate that: (i) gp30 and gp18, unlike gp60, are expressed in all tissues tested regardless of the type of endothelia lining the microvasculature and the local mechanism of transendothelial albumin transport; (ii) BSA conformationally modified by either surface adsorption or chemical means not only interacts more avidly with gp30 and gp18 than native albumin but also is preferentially degraded by the cells; (iii) A-Au and native albumin are not equivalent probes for detecting albumin interaction sites; and (iv) gp30 and gp18 exhibit binding behavior resembling scavenger receptors. The possible roles of gp30 and gp18 in albumin binding, transcytosis, endocytosis, and even protein catabolism are discussed.     

Understanding the role of internal lysine residues of serum albumins in conformational stability and bilirubin binding

The role of internal lysine residues of different serum albumins, viz. from human, rabbit, goat, sheep and buffalo (HSA, RbSA, GSA, SSA and BuSA), in conformational stability and bilirubin binding was investigated after blocking them using acetylation, succinylation and guanidination reactions. No significant change in the secondary structure was noticed whereas the tertiary structure of these proteins was slightly altered upon acetylation or succinylation as revealed by circular dichroism (CD), fluorescence and gel filtration results. Guanidination did not affect the native protein conformation to a measurable extent. Scatchard analysis, CD and absorption spectroscopic results showed marked reductions (5-21-fold decrease in K(a) and approximately 50% decrease in the CD Cotton effect intensity) in the affinity of albumins for bilirubin upon acetylation or succinylation whereas guanidination produced a small change. Interestingly, monosignate CD spectra of bilirubin complexed with GSA, SSA and BuSA were transformed to bisignate CD spectra upon acetylation or succinylation of internal lysine residues whereas spectra remained bisignate in the case of bilirubin bound to acetylated or succinylated derivatives of HSA and RbSA. When probed by CD spectroscopy, bilirubin bound to acetylated or succinylated derivatives of GSA and SSA rapidly switched over to native albumins and not vice versa. These results suggested that salt linkage(s) contributed by internal lysine residue(s) play an important role in the high-affinity binding of bilirubin to albumin and provide stability to the native three-dimensional conformation of the bound pigment. Chloroform severely decreased the intensity of both positive and negative CD Cotton effects of bilirubin complexed with acetylated or succinylated derivatives of all albumins which otherwise increased significantly in the case of bilirubin complexed with native and guanidinated albumin derivatives, except the bilirubin-RbSA complex which showed a small decrease in intensity. These results suggest that the presence of salt linkage(s) in bilirubin-albumin complexation is(are) crucial to bring about effective and efficient stereochemical changes in the bound pigment by co-binding of chloroform which seems to have at least one conserved binding site on these albumins that is shared with bilirubin.     

The Molar Combining Ratio of Anti-Albumin Fab' Fragments to Homologous and Heterologous Serum Albumins

The number of antibody combining sites on bovine (BSA), goat (GSA) and sheep (SSA) serum albumins was studied using rabbit and chicken antibodies. In homologous reactions, the profiles of quantitative precipitations with chicken antibody were similar to those with rabbit antibody reported previously (12), and the antigenic valence in the extreme antibody excess zone was found to be 6–7 for each albumin. The univalent Fab' fragments of rabbit and chicken antibodies were prepared. The stoichiometry of the soluble complex formed with the Fab' fragment and fluorescence labeled albumin was analyzed by gel filtration, and the number of Fab' fragment molecules capable of binding to an albumin molecule was estimated. In a homologous reaction with both rabbit and chicken Fab' fragments, the Fab' to albumin combining ratio revealed from the molecular weight of the soluble complex was 14:1. In the heterologous reactions, the combining ratio was 5:1 for rabbit Fab' fragment to BSA, and 9:1 for chicken Fab' fragment to BSA. From the heterologous reactions between GSA and SSA, it was demonstrated that the combining ratios were 10–11:1 with rabbit Fab' fragment and 11–13:1 with chicken Fab' fragment.     

The effect of commercial bovine serum albumin and other proteins on the activity of bovine milk galactosyltransferase

The widespread use of bovine serum albumin preparations for the stabilization of purified glycosyltransferases has prompted us to study the effects of different preparations of albumins on the galactosyltransferase activity of bovine milk. For comparison, several other proteins were tested as well. The albumins caused a large stimulation of transferase activity (400-700%) which varied depending on the source of the albumin and the treatment to which it had been subjected. Several other unrelated proteins were tested for their effects on transferase activity. Some proteins stimulated, while others had little effect. Lysozyme stimulated the activity by 178% and poly-L-lysine had little effect. Other proteins stimulated to variable extents. The stimulations obtained with albumin and myelin basic protein were noteworthy. The stimulation was considerably less marked when the enzyme was incorporated into lipid vesicles. These results emphasize the need for caution when adding proteins such as bovine serum albumin to purified enzymes for the purpose of stabilizing the activity of the enzyme.     

Complexation with albumins of chiral aromatic substrates and their chemistry in ground and excited states. Catalytic and chirality recognition properties of the protein in the cases of binaphthol, its photoisomers, and ketoprofen.

The reactivity of organic molecules can be modified upon complexation with proteins: these changes can be different and more significant when the substrate is in an electronically excited state. Here we review UV, CD, and fluorescence spectroscopy studies on the photochemistry and on the chemistry of atropisomeric binaphthols and of ketoprofen, complexed to serum albumins. The chemical and photochemical properties of the organic substrates, complexed to the albumins or free in common solvents, are different. The role of the protein complexation is also evidenced in photoresolution processes of racemate-protein complexes. Catalytic effects due to serum albumins are also reported. In particular, the Arrhenius parameters for the rate of thermal isomerization of a metastable photoproduct of binaphthol in common solvents are compared with those of the bovine serum albumin catalyzed isomerization.