Analyses of intramolecular disulfide bonds in proteins by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis following two-step alkylation

A method that makes use of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was developed for the analysis of intramolecular disulfide bonds in proteins. Proteins with different numbers of cleaved disulfide bonds are alkylated with iodoacetic acid or iodoacetamide as the first step. The disulfide bonds remaining were reduced by excess dithiothreitol, and the newly generated free sulfhydryl groups were alkylated with the reagent not yet used (iodoacetamide, iodoacetic acid, or vinyl-pyridine) as the second step. This treatment made it possible for lysozyme (Mr, 14,000; 4 disulfides), the N-terminal half-molecule of conalbumin (Mr, 36,000; 6 disulfides), the C-terminal half-molecule of conalbumin (Mr, 40,000; 9 disulfides), and whole conalbumin (Mr, 78,000; 15 disulfides) to be separated by acid-urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis into distinct bands depending on the number of disulfide bonds cleaved. The method allowed us to determine the total number of disulfide bonds in native proteins and to assess the cleaved levels of disulfide bonds in partially reduced proteins. Two-step alkylation used in combination with radioautography was especially useful for the analysis of disulfide bonds in proteins synthesized in complex biological systems.     

A specific stain for sulfhydryl groups in proteins after separation by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

A new method is described for specifically staining protein sulfhydryl groups after the proteins have been separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in slab gels. The stain will detect as little as 0.25 microgram of lysozyme and 1 microgram of most other proteins; the range of sensitivity for a specific protein depending on its sulfhydryl content. Proteins with no cysteine residues (type I collagen) and glycoproteins do not cause spurious staining.     

Analysis of free sulfhydryl groups and disulfide bonds in Na+,K+-ATPase

The content of free SH groups and disulfide bonds in the purified pig kidney Na+,K+-ATPase was determined by ammetric titration with silver nitrate. In the native enzyme, most of the free SH groups are masked due to their location in the polypeptide chain regions poorly accessible to SH reagents. Denaturation with 5% SDS and 8 M urea makes these regions accessible thus revealing 22 free SH groups/mol of the protein. After complete blocking of free SH groups with silver ions, 8 SH groups/mol of the protein are being released upon sulfitolysis which indicates the presence of four disulfide bonds in the enzyme. At least one disulfide bridge is located in the alpha-subunit whereas the beta-subunit contains three disulfide bonds.     

Demonstration of sulfhydryl and disulfide groups by a fluorescent maleimide procedure

Summary Several fluorescent maleimide compounds were evaluated as possible substitutes for N-(4-aminophenyl)maleimide in the histochemical procedures developed by Sippel (1973, 1978a, b, 1980) for the demonstration of sulfhydryl and disulfide groups. The brightest and most selective fluorescence was obtained by using N-(7-dimethylamino-4-methylcoumarinyl)maleimide (DACM), although both eosin-5-maleimide and fluorescein-5-maleimide could also be used if adequate control preparations were made.     

Molecular weights of protein multimers from polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

A nonlinear relationship between polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) retardation coefficients (K_R) and molecular weights has been observed during analysis of several multimeric proteins. Although the deviation from linearity over a wide range of molecular weights is slight, it can lead to significant errors in the estimation of the sizes of individual multimers. Two alternative methods of analysis of PAGE results are compared and demonstrated to yield linear relationships for multimeric proteins having molecular weights as high as 900,000.     

盘状聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳法分离血清蛋白实验的几点改进

对盘状聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳法分离血清蛋白实验提出了几点改进,以满足本科生实验的要求。实验主要比较和分析了两种封胶方法（原胶布封胶与改进的琼脂糖封胶）和两种染色方法（原考马斯亮蓝染色法与改进的考马斯亮蓝染色法）对凝胶分离血清蛋白实验的影响。结果显示,改进的盘状聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳法是一种灵敏、快速、简便、安全、分辨率高的实验方法。结论：改进的盘状聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳法分离血清蛋白实验非常适合本科生实验。     

Peptide mapping of protein bands from polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis by chemical cleavage in gel pleces and re-electrophoresis

A simple method has been developed for peptide mapping of protein bands obtained by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The procedure is based on selective acid hydrolysis of aspartyl-prolyl bonds which occur in proteins with an average frequency of 1 per 400 amino acid residues. A gel piece containing the protein to be analyzed is soaked with 75% formie acid. For the subsequent incubation at 37°C for 24 h the gel piece is immersed in liquid paraffin. After removal of formic acid by lyophilization the gel piece is rehydrated in buffer and placed into the sample well of a second polyacrylamide gel on which the generated peptides are electrophoretically separated.