Circular dichroism of bovine serum albumin in divalent salt solutions

The circular dichroism of bovine serum albumin in divalent salt solutions was investigated. The salts selected were magnesium chloride and calcium chloride. Their effects on the secondary and tertiary structures of the protein were compared with that of lithium chloride. It is well known that the elements Ca, Mg, and Li have many properties in common. The results show the similarity of their ions in the capacity of deforming protein, in spite of their characteristic pharmacological functions.     

1H- and 2H-NMR study of bovine serum albumin solutions

Frozen, native and denatured bovine serum albumin solutions have been studied with a wide-band NMR pulse spectrometer. Both macromolecular and water protons spin-spin and spin-lattice relaxation times--t2m, t1m, t2w, t1w--have been measured between 170 and 360 K. In the native sample, the t2m process is the tumbling rate of the bovine serum albumin molecules. It gives to the spin-lattice relaxation an omega 0(-2) frequency dependence at room temperature in the studied frequency range, 6-90 MHz. An additional process contributes to t1m-1; it arises from internal backbone or segmental motions and provides a lower frequency behaviour. On denaturation, bovine serum albumin molecules lose their tumbling motion and form a rigid network, while internal backbone motions seem unaffected. Calorimetric Cp measurement confirms the occurrence of a phase transition upon denaturation. 1H and 2H spin-lattice relaxation times of water protons depend mainly on bound water mobility. 1H and 2H t2w depend also on the tertiary structure of bovine serum albumin and on its mobility, because of a fast exchange process between water and some protein protons (or deutons), while a cross-relaxation process between protein and water protons contributes to 1H t1w. Denaturation has no influence on bound water motional properties and bound water population.     

Preferential solvent binding and change in conformation of bovine serum albumin in 2-chloroethanol-water mixed solvents.

Solvent binding to bovine serum albumin in 2-chloroethanol-water mixed solvents of different composition, measured previously by Inoue and Timasheff (Biopolymers (1972) 11 , 737–43) is applied to a hydrodynamic study of the solvated protein. From sedimentation and diffusion data, the apparent molecular weight of the solvated protein particle can be calculated, provided an average partial specific volume, computed from the composition of the particle, is introduced in Svedberg's equation. The unsolvated molecular weight of the protein can than be calculated by subtraction of the bound solvent. Further data on the hydrodynamic particle (f/f_min and axial ratio of the equivalent ellipsoid) are readily calculated from these experiments, and reinforce the supposition that 2-chloroethanol is a strong helix-inducing solvent.     

A study of the molecular sources of nonideal osmotic pressure of bovine serum albumin solutions as a function of pH.

Two types of the late Na channels, burst and background, were studied in Purkinje and ventricular cells. In the whole-cell configuration, steady-state Na currents were recorded at potentials (-70 to -80 mV) close to the normal cell resting potential. The question of the contribution of late Na channels to this background Na conductance was investigated. During depolarization, burst Na channels were active for periods (up to approximately 5 s), which exceeded the action potential duration. However, they eventually closed without reopening, indicating the presence of slow and complete inactivation. When, at the moment of burst channel opening, the potential was switched to -80 mV, the channel closed quickly without reopening. We conclude that the burst Na channels cannot contribute significantly to the background Na conductance. Background Na channels undergo incomplete inactivation. After a step depolarization, their activity decreased in time, approaching a steady-state level. Background Na channel openings could be recorded at constant potentials in the range from -120 to 0 mV. After step depolarizations to potentials near -70 mV and more negative, a significant fraction of Na current was carried by the background Na channels. Analysis of the background channel behavior revealed that their gating properties are qualitatively different from those of the early Na channels. We suggest that background Na channels represent a special type of Na channel that can play an important role in the initiation of cardiac action potential and in the TTX-sensitive background Na conductance.     

Low-temperature glass transitions of quenched and annealed bovine serum albumin aqueous solutions

To investigate the glass transition behaviors of a 20% (w/w) aqueous solution of bovine serum albumin, heat capacities and enthalpy relaxation rates were measured by adiabatic calorimetry at temperatures ranging from 80 to 300 K. One series of measurements was carried out after quenching from 300 down to 80 K and another after annealing in 200-240 K. The quenched sample showed a heat capacity jump indicating a glass transition temperature T(g) = 170 K, and the annealed sample showed a smaller jump with the T(g) shifted toward the higher temperature side. The temperature dependence of the enthalpy relaxation rates for the quenched sample indicated the presence of two enthalpy relaxation effects: one at around 110 K and the other over a wide temperature range (120-190 K). The annealed sample showed three separate relaxation effects giving 1) T(g) = 110 K, 2) 135 K, and 3) temperature higher than 180 K, whereas nothing around 170 K. These effects were thought to originate, respectively, from the rearrangement motions of 1) primary hydrate water forming a direct hydrogen bond with the protein, 2) part of the internal water localized in the opening of a protein structure, and 3) the disordered region in the protein.     

Raman studies of bovine serum albumin.

The Raman Spectra of bovine serum albumin have been obtained in the solute state, in alkaline and acidic solutions, and in the gel. The reversible denaturations of bovine serum albumin solutions by heat, acid's, and alkali were studied and a new mechanism for heat denaturation has been proposed based on a continuous unfolding of the α-helices.     

Activity coefficients of salts in highly concentrated protein solutions. II. Potassium salts in isoionic bovine serum albumin solutions

Mean activity coefficients of different potassium salts KX (X = F-, Cl-, Br-, I-, NO3-, SCN-) have been measured in concentrated isoionic bovine serum albumin (BSA) solutions, by use of the EMF method with ion-exchange membrane electrodes. These solutions may be regarded as simple model systems for the cytoplasm of living cells as far as the influence of the macromolecular component on the activity coefficients of the salts is concerned. Two series of measurements have been carried out: (a) varying the amount of salt from 0.01 to 0.5 molal and maintaining the BSA concentration constant at 20 wt% and (b) varying the protein concentration up to 25 wt% and keeping the salt concentration constant at 0.1 molal. For all salts studied, the mean activity coefficients in the protein-salt solutions increase as the salt concentration rises, when the protein concentration is maintained constant. In the series of measurements (b) the activity coefficients of all salts change linearly with the protein concentration. Marked qualitative differences, however, were observed depending on the anion species, which could be interpreted in terms of specific ion binding of X- to the protein molecule. By taking into account BSA-bound 'non-solvent' water, the results were analyzed in terms of numbers of anions bound per BSA molecule. Comparison with the results of Scatchard, obtained at low protein concentrations, showed only a very small electrostatic effect of the BSA-(X-)v polyions on the activity coefficient of the salts at higher protein and salt concentrations.     

Exchange of copper between serum albumin and bleomycin.

1. The present in vitro study shows that bleomycin is able to take up copper from albumin, which functions as a copper transport protein in plasma. 2. Calculations, based on plasma concentrations of Cu(II)-albumin and bleomycin, suggest that only a small fraction of bleomycin (less than 3%) may directly accept copper from Cu(II)-albumin.     

Intermolecular interaction of nickel (ii) phthalocyanine tetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt with bovine serum albumin: A multi-technique study

The interaction of nickel (II) phthalocyanine tetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt with bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been investigated by combination of fluorescence, UV-vis absorption, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and circular dichorism (CD) spectroscopies as well as through molecular docking. Fluorescence quenching and absorption spectra were investigated as a mean for estimating the binding parameters. Analysis of fluorescence quenching data at different temperatures was performed in order to specify the thermodynamics parameters for interactions of phthalocyanine complex with BSA. According to experimental data it was suggested that phthalocyanine had a significant binding affinity to BSA and the process was entropy driven. Based on the results of molecular docking it was indicated that the main active binding site for this phthalocyanine complex is site I in subdomain IIA of BSA. The results provide useful information for understanding the binding mechanism of anticancer drug-albumin and gives insight into the biological activity and metabolism of the drug in blood.     

Roles of bovine serum albumin and copper in the assay and stability of ammonia monooxygenase activity in vitro.

We investigated the effects of bovine serum albumin (BSA) on both the assay and the stability of ammonia-oxidizing activity in cell extracts of Nitrosomonas europaea. Ammonia-dependent O2 uptake activity of freshly prepared extracts did not require BSA. However, a dependence on BSA developed in extracts within a short time. The role of BSA in the assay of ammonia-oxidizing activity apparently is to absorb endogenous free fatty acids which are present in the extracts, because (i) only proteins which bind fatty acids, e.g., BSA or beta-lactoglobulin, supported ammonia-oxidizing activity; (ii) exogenous palmitoleic acid completely inhibited ammonia-dependent O2 uptake activity; (iii) the inhibition caused by palmitoleic acid was reversed only by proteins which bind fatty acids; and (iv) the concentration of endogenous free palmitoleic acid increased during aging of cell extracts. Additionally, the presence of BSA (10 mg/ml) or CuCl2 (500 microM) stabilized ammonia-dependent O2 uptake activity for 2 to 3 days at 4 degrees C. The stabilizing effect of BSA or CuCl2 was apparently due to an inhibition of lipolysis, because both additives inhibited the increase in concentrations of free palmitoleic acid in aging extracts. Other additives which are known to modify lipase activity were also found to stabilize ammonia-oxidizing activity. These additives included HgCl2, lecithin, and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride.     

Non-enzymatic posttranslational modifications of bovine serum albumin by oxo-compounds investigated by chromatographic and electrophoretic methods

Non-enzymatic posttranslational modifications of bovine serum albumin (BSA) by oxo-compounds, particularly glucose, ribose, glyoxal and glutardialdehyde, have been investigated using a set of modern chromatographic and electrophoretic separation methods. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) alternatively with UV spectrophotometric (diode array) or mass spectrometric (MS) detection, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) with Coomassie brilliant blue staining detection, and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with UV spectrophotometric detection have been employed for the investigation of the chemical and structural changes of BSA caused by its reaction with the above oxo-compounds exhibiting different degree of reactivity. The extent of modifications was found to be dependent on the nature of the oxo-compound used and progressed in the glucose相似文献   

Bovine serum albumin in lithium chloride solutions.

The effects of li+ and H3O+ on the conformation of bovine serum albumin in azqueous solutions at room temperature are compared. At low pH (high concentration of H3O+) the change in conformation of the protein is demonstrated by an increase in effective volume, a decrease in helical content and a blue shift of tyrosyl residue. A similar change is observed for the protein in highly concentrated LiC1 solution (6.0-7.0M) at neutral pH. However, the H3O+ is 12,000 times more powerful than the Li+ in destabilizing the protein molecule. This is consistent with their thermodynamic and kinetic properties, since the H3O+ is often different from the Li+ in several orders of magnitude. While the changes in structural properties of the protein are almost identical in both the acidic solution and the highly concentrated LiC1 solution, further study using dioxane as a probe suggests different mechanisms under which the changes occur. The effect of H3O+ is related to electrostatic force, whereas the effect of Li+ is related to both the electrostatic hydrophobic forces. These two major forces are believed to be responsible for the conformation of protein molecules.