Preferential interactions determine protein solubility in three-component solutions: the MgCl2 system

The correlation between protein solubility and the preferential interactions of proteins with solvent components was critically examined with aqueous MgCl2 as the solvent system. Preferential interaction and solubility measurements with three proteins, beta-lactoglobulin, bovine serum albumin, and lysozyme, resulted in similar patterns of interaction. At acid pH (pH 2-3) and lower salt concentrations (less than 2 M), the proteins were preferentially hydrated, while at higher salt concentrations, the interaction was either that of preferential salt binding or low salt exclusion. At pH 4.5-5, all three proteins exhibited either very low preferential hydration or preferential binding of MgCl2. These results were analyzed in terms of the balance between salt binding and salt exclusion attributed to the increase in the surface tension of water by salts, which is invariant with conditions. It was shown that the increase in salt binding at high salt concentration is a reflection of mass action, while its decrease at acid pH is due to the electrostatic repulsion between Mg2+ ions and the high net positive charge on the protein. The preferential interaction pattern was paralleled by the variation of protein solubility with solvent conditions. Calculation of the transfer free energies from water to the salt solutions for proteins in solution and in the precipitate showed dependencies on salt concentration. This indicates that the nature of interactions between proteins and solvent components is the same in solution and in the solid state, which implies no change in protein structure during precipitation. Analysis of the transfer free energies and preferential interaction parameter in terms of the salting-in, salting-out, and weak ion binding contributions has led to the conclusions that, when the weak ion binding contribution is small, the predominant protein-salt interaction must be that of preferential salt exclusion most probably caused by the increase of the surface tension of water by addition of the salt. A necessary consequence of this is salting-out of the protein, if the protein structure is to remain unaltered.     

Protein precipitation and denaturation by dimethyl sulfoxide

Solvent conditions play a major role in a wide range of physical properties of proteins in solution. Organic solvents, including dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), have been used to precipitate, crystallize and denature proteins. We have studied here the interactions of DMSO with proteins by differential refractometry and amino acid solubility measurements. The proteins used, i.e., ribonuclease, lysozyme, beta-lactoglobulin and chymotrypsinogen, all showed negative preferential DMSO binding, or preferential hydration, at low DMSO concentrations, where they are in the native state. As the DMSO concentration was increased, the preferential interaction changed from preferential hydration to preferential DMSO binding, except for ribonuclease. The preferential DMSO binding correlated with structural changes and unfolding of these proteins observed at higher DMSO concentrations. Amino acid solubility measurements showed that the interactions between glycine and DMSO are highly unfavorable, while the interactions of DMSO with aromatic and hydrophobic side chains are favorable. The observed preferential hydration of the native protein may be explained from a combination of the excluded volume effects of DMSO and the unfavorable interaction of DMSO with a polar surface, as manifested by the unfavorable interactions of DMSO with the polar uncharged glycine molecule. Such an unfavorable interaction of DMSO with the native protein correlates with the enhanced self-association and precipitation of proteins by DMSO. Conversely, the observed conformational changes at higher DMSO concentration are due to increased binding of DMSO to hydrophobic and aromatic side chains, which had been newly exposed on protein unfolding.     

The mechanism of action of Na glutamate, lysine HCl, and piperazine-N,N'-bis(2-ethanesulfonic acid) in the stabilization of tubulin and microtubule formation

Preferential interaction measurements between proteins and monosodium glutamate were carried out to arrive at an understanding of the mechanism of its strong effect on tubulin stability and self-assembly into microtubules. For all proteins studied, i.e. bovine serum albumin, lysozyme, beta-lactoglobulin, and calf brain tubulin, the protein showed a large preferential hydration in the presence of monosodium glutamate. The enhancement of tubulin self-association by monosodium glutamate can be interpreted in terms of the large unfavorable free energy of interaction between the additive and the protein. Preferential interactions were also examined for lysine hydrochloride, which also gave a preferential hydration of the proteins, except for tubulin. The dependence of the preferential hydration parameter on proteins was different for the two additives, suggesting the importance of net electrostatic charges of proteins in their interaction with glutamate anions and lysinium cations. The zero preferential interaction of lysine hydrochloride with tubulin indicates an affinity of the lysine cation for the protein. Both additives increased the transition temperature of proteins. This can be understood in terms of the unfavorable free energy of interaction between the additive and the protein surface, which should be even more unfavorable when the denaturation causes an increase in the surface area.     

Why preferential hydration does not always stabilize the native structure of globular proteins

The observed preferential hydration of proteins in aqueous MgCl2 solutions at low pH and low salt concentration (Arakawa et al., 1990) prompted a scrutiny of possible protein stabilization by MgCl2 under the same conditions, in view of earlier observations in aqueous solutions of sugars, amino acids, and a number of salts that preferential hydration is usually accompanied by the stabilization of the native structure of globular proteins. The results of thermal transition experiments on five proteins (ribonuclease A, lysozyme, beta-lactoglobulin, chymotrypsinogen, and bovine serum albumin) revealed neither significant stabilization nor destabilization of the protein structures by MgCl2 both at acid conditions (except for ribonuclease A, which was stabilized, but to a much smaller extent than by MgSO4) and at higher pH at which MgCl2 displayed little preferential hydration. This was in contrast to the great stabilizing action of MgSO4 at the same conditions. 2-Methyl-2,4-pentanediol (MPD), which gives a very large preferential hydration of native ribonuclease A at pH 5.8 [Pittz & Timasheff (1978) Biochemistry 17, 615-623], was found to be a strong destabilizer of that protein at the same conditions. Analysis of the preferentially hydrating solvent systems led to their classification into two categories: those in which the preferential hydration is independent of solution conditions and those in which it varies with conditions. The first always stabilize protein structure, while the second do not. In the first category the predominant interaction is that of cosolvent exclusion, determined by solvent properties, with the protein being essentially inert. In the second category interactions are determined to a major extent by the chemical nature of the protein surface.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The stabilization of proteins by osmolytes.

The preferential interactions of lysozyme with solvent components and the effects of solvent additives on its stability were examined for several neutral osmolytes: L-proline, L-serine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, sarcosine, taurine, alpha-alanine, beta-alanine, glycine, betaine, and trimethylamine N-oxide. It was shown that all these substances stabilize the protein structure against thermal denaturation and (except for trimethylamine N-oxide for which interaction measurements could not be made) are strongly excluded from the protein domain, rendering unlikely their direct binding to proteins. On the other hand, valine, not known as an osmolyte, had no stabilizing effect, although it induced a large protein-preferential hydration. A possible explanation is given for the use of these substances as osmotic-pressure-regulating agents in organisms living under high osmotic pressure.     

Steric exclusion is the principal source of the preferential hydration of proteins in the presence of polyethylene glycols.

The preferential interactions of bovine serum albumin, lysozyme, chymotrypsinogen, ribonuclease A, and beta-lactoglobulin with polyethylene glycols (PEGs) of molecular weight 200-6,000 have been measured by dialysis equilibrium coupled with high precision densimetry. All the proteins were found to be preferentially hydrated in all the PEGs, and the magnitude of the preferential hydration increased with increasing PEG size for each protein. The change in the chemical potentials of the proteins with the addition of the PEGs had highly positive values, indicating a strong thermodynamic destabilization of the system by the PEGs. A viscosity study of the PEGs showed them to be randomly coiled polymers, as their radii of gyration were related to the molecular weight by Rg = aM0.55. The thickness of the effective shell impenetrable to PEG around protein molecules, calculated from the preferential hydration, was found to vary with PEG molecular weight in similar fashion as the PEG radius of gyration, supporting the proposal (Arakawa, T. & Timasheff, S.N., 1985a, Biochemistry 24, 6756-6762) that the preferential exclusion of PEGs from proteins is due principally to the steric exclusion of PEG from the protein domain, although favorable interactions with protein surface residues, in particular nonpolar ones, may compete with the exclusion. These thermodynamically unfavorable preferential exclusion interactions lead to the action of PEGs as precipitants, although they may destabilize protein structure at higher temperatures.     

Preferential hydration and solubility of proteins in aqueous solutions of polyethylene glycol

This paper is focused on the local composition around a protein molecule in aqueous mixtures containing polyethylene glycol (PEG) and the solubility of proteins in water + PEG mixed solvents. Experimental data from literature regarding the preferential binding parameter were used to calculate the excesses (or deficits) of water and PEG in the vicinity of β-lactoglobulin, bovine serum albumin, lysozyme, chymotrypsinogen and ribonuclease A. It was concluded that the protein molecule is preferentially hydrated in all cases (for all proteins and PEGs investigated). The excesses of water and deficits of PEG in the vicinity of a protein molecule could be explained by a steric exclusion mechanism, i.e. the large difference in the sizes of water and PEG molecules.

The solubility of different proteins in water + PEG mixed solvent was expressed in terms of the preferential binding parameter. The slope of the logarithm of protein (lysozyme, β-lactoglobulin and bovine serum albumin) solubility versus the PEG concentration could be predicted on the basis of experimental data regarding the preferential binding parameter. For all the cases considered (various proteins, various PEGs molecular weights and various pHs), our theory predicted that PEG acts as a salting-out agent, conclusion in full agreement with experimental observations. The predicted slopes were compared with experimental values and while in some cases good agreement was found, in other cases the agreement was less satisfactory. Because the established equation is a rigorous thermodynamic one, the disagreement might occur because the experimental results used for the solubility and/or the preferential binding parameter do not correspond to thermodynamic equilibrium.     

Effects of arginine on heat-induced aggregation of concentrated protein solutions

Arginine is one of the commonly used additives to enhance refolding yield of proteins, to suppress aggregation of proteins, and to increase solubility of proteins, and yet the molecular interactions that contribute to the role of arginine are unclear. Here, we present experiments, using bovine serum albumin (BSA), lysozyme (LYZ), and β-lactoglobulin (BLG) as model proteins, to show that arginine can enhance heat-induced aggregation of concentrated protein solutions, contrary to the conventional belief that arginine is a universal suppressor of aggregation. Results show that the enhancement in aggregation is caused only for BSA and BLG, but not for LYZ, indicating that arginine's preferential interactions with certain residues over others could determine the effect of the additive on aggregation. We use this previously unrecognized behavior of arginine, in combination with density functional theory calculations, to identify the molecular-level interactions of arginine with various residues that determine arginine's role as an enhancer or suppressor of aggregation of proteins. The experimental and computational results suggest that the guanidinium group of arginine promotes aggregation through the hydrogen-bond-based bridging interactions with the acidic residues of a protein, whereas the binding of the guanidinium group to aromatic residues (aggregation-prone) contributes to the stability and solubilization of the proteins. The approach, we describe here, can be used to select suitable additives to stabilize a protein solution at high concentrations based on an analysis of the amino acid content of the protein.     

Molten globule intermediates of human serum albumin in low concentration of urea

Interaction of non-electrolytes such as urea with proteins especially at lower concentrations is opening-up newer concepts in the understanding of protein stability and folding in proteomics. In this study, the secondary and tertiary structural characteristics and thermal stability of human serum albumin at lower concentrations of urea have been monitored. The protein attains a molten globule like structure at concentration urea below 2 M. This structural state also shows an increase in the alpha-helical content as compared to the native state. At concentrations of urea above 2 M, human serum albumin starts unfolding, resulting in a three-state transition with two mid points of transitions at around 4 M and 7 M urea concentrations. The characteristics of the partially folded intermediates are discussed with respect to the three component system analyses. Preferential hydration dominates over preferential interaction at lower concentration of urea (up to 2.5 M) and at higher concentration, the preferential interaction overtakes preferential hydration in a competitive manner. Formation of structural intermediates at lower concentration of urea is hypothesized as a general phenomenon in proteins and fits in with the observation with preferential interaction parameters by Timasheff and co-workers in the case of lysozyme and ribonuclease at different pH values.     

Protein hydration: A sucrose probe

The hydration of conalbumin, of myoglobin, of lysozyme, of carbon monoxide hemoglobin, of β-lactoglobin, of bovine serum albumin, of ovomucoid, of ribonuclease, and of egg albumin has been measured with equilibrium dialysis using sucrose as the probe at 30 °C. All proteins were at their isoelectric points except lysozymes and β-lactoglobulin and also samples of egg albumin which had been shifted to a more alkaline pH. Departure from their isoelectric points leads to an increase in the apparent protein hydration. Decreasing the temperature to 11.5 °C produces a slight increase in the hydration of egg albumin. A method is proposed for the calculation of protein hydration. The calculated protein hydration tends to be less than that determined experimentally for five of the proteins. There is satisfactory agreement with four of the proteins.     

Protein adsorption at solid-liquid interfaces: Part II--Adsorption from binary protein mixture

Extent of adsorption of proteins at alumina-water interface from solutions containing binary mixture of beta-lactoglobulin and bovine serum albumin (BSA), beta-lactoglobulin and gelatin, and gelatin and bovine serum albumin has been estimated as functions of protein concentrations at varying pH, ionic strength, temperature and weight fraction ratios of protein mixture. The extent of adsorption (gamma lacw) of lactoglobulin in the presence of BSA increases with increase of protein concentration (Clac) until it reaches a maximum but a fixed value gamma lacw(m). Extent of adsorption gamma serw also initially increases with increase of protein concentrations until it reaches maximum value gamma serw(m). Beyond these protein concentrations, adsorbed BSA is gradually desorbed due to the preferential adsorption of lactoglobulin from the protein mixture. In many systems, gamma serw at high protein concentrations even becomes negative due to the strong competition of BSA and water for binding to the surface sites in the presence of lactoglobulin. For lactoglobulin-gelatin mixtures, adsorption of both proteins is enhanced as protein concentration is increased until limiting values for adsorption are reached. Beyond the limiting value, lactoglobulin is further accumulated at the interface without limit when protein concentration is high. For gelatin-albumin mixtures, extent of gelatin adsorption increases with increase in the adsorption of BSA. The limit for saturation of adsorption for gelatin is not reached for many systems. At acid pH, adsorbed BSA appears to be desorbed from the surface in the presence of gelatin. From the results thus obtained the role of electrostatic and hydrophobic effects in controlling the adsorption process has been analysed.     

Apolar interaction of alpha-chymotrypsin with dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine vesicles

The interaction of bovine pancreatic alpha-chymotrypsin with dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (PC) vesicles was measured turbimetrically. The protein interacted with the vesicles at NaCl concentrations of above 0.8 M. The turbidity reached a plateau on increase in the amount of either the protein or the vesicles in the presence of a fixed amount of the other component. The precipitates formed contained both PC and protein in ratios varying with the initial amount of each component. On mixing chymotrypsin and PC vesicles, time-dependent turbidity increase was high at below pH 2.5, but relatively small at neutral and alkaline pH values. Apolar interaction between the two components was confirmed by demonstrating an increase in fluorescence intensity of chymotrypsin in the presence of the PC in 1 M NaCl. The turbidity of a mixture of PC vesicles and bovine serum albumin (BSA) increased even in the absence of 1 M NaCl, whereas the turbidities of mixtures of the vesicles and lysozyme or alpha-lactalbumin did not change with time in the presence of 1 M NaCl at pH 8.0.     

Adsorption of biopolymers at hydrophilic cellulose-water interface

The extent of adsorption (Gamma2(1)) of bovine serum albumin (BSA), beta-lactoglobulin, lysozyme, gelatin, and DNA from aqueous solution onto the hydrophilic surface of cellulose has been measured as function of biopolymer concentration at different temperatures, pHs, and ionic strengths, and in the presence of a high concentration of inorganic salts and denaturants. In all cases, the value of Gamma2(1) increases with the increase of biopolymer concentration (X2) in bulk and it attains a maximum value at a critical mole fraction concentration X2m. The value of Gamma2m depends upon the nature of protein, temperature, pH, and ionic strength, as well as the nature of neutral salts present in excess. Gamma2m for proteins at a fixed physicochemical condition stands in the following order: Gelatin>betalactoglobulin>lysozyme>BSA. The isotherms for adsorption of DNA nucleotides on cellulose surface at pH 4.0 have been compared at different temperatures and ionic strengths, and in the presence of high concentration of inorganic salts LiCl, NaCl, KCl, and Na2SO4. Values of Gamma2m for different systems have been evaluated and critically compared. At pH 6.0 and 8.0, Gamma2(1) values of DNA nucleotides on cellulose are all negative due to the excess positive hydration of cellulose. At pH 4.0, adsorption of nucleotides of acid, alkali, and heat-denatured DNA widely differ from each other and in the presence of excess concentration of urea becomes negative. The probable mechanisms of biopolymer-cellulose adsorption in terms of polymer hydration, steric interaction, London-van der Waals, hydrophobic, and other types of interactions have been discussed qualitatively. The standard free energy change for the adsorption of protein and DNA nucleotides on the cellulose surface at the state of adsorption saturation has been calculated in kJ per kg of cellulose using an integrated form of the Gibbs adsorption equation. The relation between DeltaG degrees and maximum affinities between biopolymers and the polysaccharide interface have been discussed for various systems.     

The measurement of insoluble proteins using a modified Bradford assay

A technique for determining the amount of thermally denatured, insoluble protein is described. The assay has been validated using four globular proteins, bovine serum albumin, beta-lactoglobulin, lysozyme, and ovalbumin. It consists of a resolubilization protocol, using 8 M urea and 5% 2-mercaptoethanol, linked to the Bradford dye binding assay. The resolubilization protocol was carried out at 100 degrees C to enable complete recovery of all insoluble proteins. Beta-Lactoglobulin resolubilization was completed after heating for 1 min, whereas samples of bovine serum albumin, lysozyme, and ovalbumin required heating for 1.5 min. The assay can measure protein concentrations as small as 10 micrograms, typically with standard deviations of 3%, thus comparing favorably with the standard Bradford assay. Other types of denaturation, such as chemical denaturation causing subsequent insolubility, may be studied with this technique providing that there is no interference with the Bradford assay.     

Effects of pH on protein-protein interactions and implications for protein phase behavior

The effects of pH on protein interactions and protein phase behavior were investigated by measuring the reduced second osmotic virial coefficient (b2) for ovalbumin and catalase, and the aggregate and crystal solubilities for ovalbumin, beta-lactoglobulin A and B, ribonuclease A and lysozyme. The b2 trends observed for ovalbumin and catalase show that protein interactions become increasingly attractive with decreasing pH. This trend is in good agreement with ovalbumin phase behavior, which was observed to evolve progressively with decreasing pH, leading to formation of amorphous aggregates instead of gel bead-like aggregates, and spherulites instead of needle-like crystals. For both acidic and basic proteins, the aggregate solubility during protein salting-out decreased with decreasing pH, and contrary to what is commonly believed, neither aggregate nor crystal solubility had a minimum at the isoelectric point. beta-Lactoglobulin B was the only protein investigated to show salting-in behavior, and crystals were obtained at low salt concentrations in the vicinity of its isoelectric point. The physical origin of the different trends observed during protein salting-in and salting-out is discussed, and the implications for protein crystallization are emphasized.     

Preferential interactions of proteins with solvent components in aqueous amino acid solutions

The preferential interactions of proteins with solvent components in concentrated amino acid solutions were measured by high-precision densimetry. Bovine serum albumin and lysozyme were preferentially hydrated in all of the amino acids examined, glycine, α- and β-alanine, and betaine i.e., addition of these amino acids resulted in an unfavorable free energy change. It was shown that, for the former three amino acids, known to have a positive surface tension increment, their perturbation of the surface free energy of water is consistent with their preferential exclusion from the protein surface. In the case of betaine, which does not increase the surface tension of water, preferential exclusion from protein surface must reflect the chemical structure of this cosolvent, which is considerably more hydrophobic than that of the other three amino acids.     

Moisture-induced aggregation of lyophilized proteins in the solid state

A critical problem in the storage and delivery of pharmaceutical proteins is their aggregation induced by moisture. A model system has been elaborated and investigated to elucidate the mechanism of this phenomenon. When 10 mg of bovine serum albumin lyophilized from an aqueous solution of pH 7.3 are wetted with just 3 muL of a buffered physiological saline solution and incubated in the solid state at 37 degrees C, the protein progressively loses its solubility in water; e.g., after a 24 h incubation 97% of the protein becomes insoluble. This moisture-induced aggregation of albumin has been discovered to be due to an intermolecular S-S bond formation via the thiol-disulfide interchange reaction. The dependence of the extent of the solid-state aggregation on the amount and mode of addition of moisture and the atmosphere, additives, temperature, and history of the protein powder have been investigated. The moisture-induced solid-state aggregation has also been established and studied for three other lyophilized proteins: ovalbumin, glucose oxidase, and beta-lactoglobulin. In all cases, the loss of solubility is caused by thiol-disulfide interchange either alone or in combination with a conformational (noncovalent) process. The aggregation can be minimized by lyophilizing the proteins from acidic aqueous solutions, by adding inorganic salts, by co-lyophilizing the proteins with water-soluble polymers, or by controlling the moisture content at optimal levels.     

Interaction of selected cosolvents with bovine alpha-lactalbumin

Alpha-lactalbumin constitutes about 3% of bovine milk proteins. The preferential solvent interactions between selected cosolvents (sorbitol, sucrose and glycerol) and alpha-lactalbumin at pH 7.5 was determined using precision densitimetry. The preferential interaction parameter (xi(3)) and other thermodynamic parameters were calculated at different solvent concentrations. The xi(3) parameter was maximum at 30%, 45% and 40% (w/v) concentrations with the values of -0.282g/g, -0.171g/g and -0.299g/g for sorbitol, sucrose and glycerol, respectively. Thus the principal driving energy in the system being preferential hydration and mutual exclusion of bulk solvent. There was only a marginal change in the CD spectra of the protein with these cosolvents indicating the integrity of secondary structures. The results of thermal denaturation measurements indicated an increase in thermal stability of alpha-lactalbumin with these cosolvents. In the presence of 30% sorbitol there was an increase in the apparent thermal transition temperature (apparent T(m)) from 65 to 71 degrees C. These results indicate that the selected cosolvents in this study stabilizes alpha-lactalbumin without altering the structure of the protein.     

Relationship between preferential interaction of a protein in an aqueous mixed solvent and its solubility

The present paper is devoted to the derivation of a relation between the preferential solvation of a protein in a binary aqueous solution and its solubility. The preferential binding parameter, which is a measure of the preferential solvation (or preferential hydration) is expressed in terms of the derivative of the protein activity coefficient with respect to the water mole fraction, the partial molar volume of protein at infinite dilution and some characteristics of the protein-free mixed solvent. This expression is used as the starting point in the derivation of a relationship between the preferential binding parameter and the solubility of a protein in a binary aqueous solution. The obtained expression is used in two different ways: (1) to produce a simple criterion for the salting-in or salting-out by various cosolvents on the protein solubility in water, (2) to derive equations which predict the solubility of a protein in a binary aqueous solution in terms of the preferential binding parameter. The solubilities of lysozyme in aqueous sodium chloride solutions (pH=4.5 and 7.0), in aqueous sodium acetate (pH=8.3) and in aqueous magnesium chloride (pH=4.1) solutions are predicted in terms of the preferential binding parameter without any adjustable parameter. The results are compared with experiment, and for aqueous sodium chloride mixtures the agreement is excellent, for aqueous sodium acetate and magnesium chloride mixtures the agreement is only satisfactory.     

Effect of glycerol on the interactions and solubility of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor

The effects of additives used to stabilize protein structure during crystallization on protein solution phase behavior are poorly understood. Here we investigate the effect of glycerol and ionic strength on the solubility and strength of interactions of the bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor. These two variables are found to have opposite effects on the intermolecular forces; attractions increase with [NaCl], whereas repulsions increase with glycerol concentration. These changes are mirrored in bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor solubility where the typical salting out behavior for NaCl is observed with higher solubility found in buffers containing glycerol. The increased repulsions induced by glycerol can be explained by a number of possible mechanisms, all of which require small changes in the protein or the solvent in its immediate vicinity. Bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor follows the same general phase behavior as other globular macromolecules where a robust correlation between protein solution second virial coefficient and solubility has been developed. This study extends previous reports of this correlation to solution conditions involving nonelectrolyte additives.