Influence of salt and pH on the hydrophobicity parameters of antisense nucleosides studied by reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography and multivariate mathematical-statistical methods.

The lipophilicity and specific hydrophobic surface area of 12 8-substituted 2'-deoxyadenosine and 17 5-substituted-2'-deoxyuridine derivatives were determined by reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography in ion-free eluents and in eluents containing sodium chloride, sodium acetate and acetic acid. The strength and selectivity of the effect of eluent additives were separated by use of spectral mapping technique followed by two-dimensional nonlinear mapping. The relationship between the structural characteristics and hydrophobicity parameters was elucidated by stepwise regression analysis. Eluent additives exert a considerable influence on both hydrophobicity parameters. The effect of sodium chloride and acetic acid was higher than that of sodium acetate. The strength and selectivity of the sensitivity of nucleosides towards eluent additives significantly depended on the character of the ring structure and on the length of the apolar alkyl chain. The influence of the degree of unsaturation and the branching of the alkyl substituent was negligible.     

Relationship between hydrophobicity parameters and the strength and selectivity of phytotoxicity of sulfosuccinic acid esters

The strength and selectivity of the phytotoxicity of 11 sulfosuccinic acid ester surfactants were determined on the leaves of Tradescantia bicolor, and the data were evaluated by multivariate mathematical-statistical methods. Spectral mapping technique combined with stepwise regression analysis indicated that both the strength and the selectivity of the effect depend significantly on the specific hydrophobic surface area of the anionic surfactants determined in the presence of ions. The significant relationship between this hydrophobicity parameter and phytotoxic activity suggests the involvement of apolar (hydrophobic) forces in the plant-surfactant interaction. It was assumed that the apolar alkyl chains of the surfactants may insert in the hydrophobic part of the phospholipid bilayers causing membrane disorder and malfunction.     

Relationship between the physicochemical parameters and biological activity of sulfosuccinic acid ester surfactants

The effect of 11 sulfosuccinic acid ester surfactants on the abiotrophic developmental forms of the asexual spores of Plasmopara halstedii was determined. The strength and the selectivity of the effect was separated by the spectral mapping technique and the relationship between the biological activities and physico-chemical parameters of anionic surfactants was elucidated by stepwise regression analysis. It was established that the plasmalemma of cell wall less zoospores showed the highest and the resting zoosporangia the lowest average sensitivity toward the surfactants. The biological efficacy of surfactants was highly different the di-n-octyl ester being the most effective. Calculations proved that both the strength and selectivity of the biological activity mainly depends on the lipophilicity of the molecule and, to a lesser extent, on the electronic parameters.     

Determination of hydrophobicity of non-homologous series of anticancer drugs by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

The hydrophobiciy and specific hydrophobic surface area of 21 commercial anticancer drugs were determined by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography on an octadecyl-silica column using methanol-water mixtures as eluents. Linear correlations were calculated between the log k′ values and the methanol concentration of the eluent, the intercept and slope were considered as the best estimation of the hydrophobicity and specific hydrophobic surface area. The relationship between retention characteristics and physicochemical parameters of drugs was evaluated by multivariate mathematical statistical methods, such as principal component analysis followed by two-dimensional non-linear mapping, varimax rotation and by cluster analysis. Anticancer drugs can be well separated by reversed-phase HPLC. Various multivariate mathematical statistical calculations indicate that the retention of the investigated drugs is mainly governed by hydrophobic and steric parameters. The results suggest that the use of principal component analysis followed by two-dimensional non-linear mapping is superior to cluster analysis for the evaluation of large retention data matrices.     

Relationship between the hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecular parameters of some monoamine oxidase inhibitory drugs, determined by means of adsorptive and reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography.

The absorption capacity, the specific hydrophilic surface area, the lipophilicity and the specific hydrophobic surface area of 17 monoamine oxidase inhibitory drugs were determined by means of adsorptive and reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography for future application of these molecular parameters in quantitative structure-activity relationship studies. Principal component analysis suggests that most of the physicochemical parameters have a different information content, and their application in the elucidation of their mode of action is therefore justified.     

Structural features of helical antimicrobial peptides: their potential to modulate activity on model membranes and biological cells

Antibacterial, membrane-lytic peptides belong to the innate immune system and host defense mechanism of a multitude of animals and plants. The largest group of peptide antibiotics comprises peptides which fold into an amphipathic alpha-helical conformation when interacting with the target. The activity of these peptides is thought to be determined by global structural parameters rather than by the specific amino acid sequence. This review is concerned with the influence of structural parameters, such as peptide helicity, hydrophobicity, hydrophobic moment, peptide charge and the size of the hydrophobic/hydrophilic domain, on membrane activity and selectivity. The potential of these parameters to increase the antibacterial activity and to improve the prokaryotic selectivity of natural and model peptides is assessed. Furthermore, biophysical studies are summarized which elucidated the molecular basis for activity and selectivity modulations on the level of model membranes. Finally, the knowledge about the role of peptide structural parameters is applied to understand the different activity spectra of natural membrane-lytic peptides.     

Reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography used to study the simultaneous effect of pH and ion strength on the lipophilicity of chlorhexidine

The effect of ion strength and pH value of the eluent on the determination of the lipophilicity of chlorhexidine was studied by reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography. The method has been improved by using various buffers: aqueous solutions of formic, acetic and propionic acids and their sodium salts in different ratios and in various concentrations. Stepwise regression analysis separated the effect of pH value, ion strength and acid type on the lipophilicity of chlorhexidine and proved that the ion strength exerted a higher impact than the pH value did. The effect of alkyl chain length of the acids was of secondary importance.     

Spreading and Wetting Behaviour of Trisiloxanes

Wetting and spreading processes which involve surfactant solutions are widely used in numerous industrial and practicalapplications nowadays.The performance of different non-ionic surfactants may vary significantly and so far superspreadersolutions show the most promising spreading ability.The addition of trisiloxane surfactants to water was proven to enhancewetting,even on hydrophobic surfaces,on which conventional surfactants seem to have little or no effect.Although theseextraordinary surfactants have been extensively studied over recent years,complete understanding of their underlying mechanismsand a suitable mathematical model are still lacking.Here we present a possible explanation for the impressive performanceof trisiloxane,which is compared to wetting enhancement of a conventional surfactant.Additionally,we will explain whythe hydrophobicity of the surface is a crucial factor for the spreading phenomenon.Light will be also shed on the effect of the pHof the solution to which surfactants are added.Finally,we will investigate long-term effects of the water environment on trisiloxanewetting ability and discuss if ageing may significantly affect their performance.     

Relationship between the hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecular parameters of some synthetic nucleosides, determined by means of adsorptive and reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography

The adsorption capacity, the specific adsorptive surface, the lipophilicity and the specific hydrophobic surface of 59 natural and synthetic nucleoside derivatives were determined by means of adsorptive chromatography and reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography for the future application of these molecular parameters in quantitative structure-activity relationship studies. Stepwise regression analysis and principal component analysis proved that each of the physico-chemical parameters has a different information content, and their application in the design of new bioactive derivatives is therefore justified.     

General aspects of peptide selectivity towards lipid bilayers and cell membranes studied by variation of the structural parameters of amphipathic helical model peptides.

Model compounds of modified hydrophobicity (Eta), hydrophobic moment (mu) and angle subtended by charged residues (Phi) were synthesized to define the general roles of structural motifs of cationic helical peptides for membrane activity and selectivity. The peptide sets were based on a highly hydrophobic, non-selective KLA model peptide with high antimicrobial and hemolytic activity. Variation of the investigated parameters was found to be a suitable method for modifying peptide selectivity towards either neutral or highly negatively charged lipid bilayers. Eta and mu influenced selectivity preferentially via modification of activity on 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (POPC) bilayers, while the size of the polar/hydrophobic angle affected the activity against 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoylphosphatidyl-DL-glycerol (POPG). The influence of the parameters on the activity determining step was modest in both lipid systems and the activity profiles were the result of the parameters' influence on the second less pronounced permeabilization step. Thus, the activity towards POPC vesicles was determined by the high permeabilizing efficiency, however, changes in the structural parameters preferentially influenced the relatively moderate affinity. In contrast, intensive peptide accumulation via electrostatic interactions was sufficient for the destabilization of highly negatively charged POPG lipid membranes, but changes in the activity profile, as revealed by the modification of Phi, seem to be preferentially caused by variation of the low permeabilizing efficiency. The parameters proved very effective also in modifying antimicrobial and hemolytic activity. However, their influence on cell selectivity was limited. A threshold value of hydrophobicity seems to exist which restricted the activity modifying potential of mu and Phi on both lipid bilayers and cell membranes.     

Purification of monoclonal antibodies by hydrophobic interaction chromatography under no-salt conditions

Hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) is commonly used as a polishing step in monoclonal antibody purification processes. HIC offers an orthogonal selectivity to ion exchange chromatography and can be an effective step for aggregate clearance and host cell protein reduction. HIC, however, suffers from the limitation of use of high concentrations of kosmotropic salts to achieve the desired separation. These salts often pose a disposal concern in manufacturing facilities and at times can cause precipitation of the product. Here, we report an unconventional way of operating HIC in the flowthrough (FT) mode with no kosmotropic salt in the mobile phase. A very hydrophobic resin is selected as the stationary phase and the pH of the mobile phase is modulated to achieve the required selectivity. Under the pH conditions tested (pH 6.0 and below), antibodies typically become positively charged, which has an effect on its polarity and overall surface hydrophobicity. Optimum pH conditions were chosen under which the antibody product of interest flowed through while impurities such as aggregates and host cell proteins bound to the column. This strategy was tested with a panel of antibodies with varying pI and surface hydrophobicity. Performance was comparable to that observed using conventional HIC conditions with high salt.     

Mechanistic studies on aggregation of polyethylenimine-DNA complexes and its prevention

Aggregation of polyethylenimine (PEI)-DNA complexes severely undermines their utility for gene delivery into mammalian cells. Herein we undertook to elucidate the mechanism of this deleterious phenomenon and to develop rational strategies for its prevention. The effect of temperature, surfactants, complex concentration, ionic strength, viscosity, and pH on the time course of this aggregation was systematically examined. The aggregation process was completely inhibited by 2.5% polyoxyethylene (100) stearate (POES) and to a lesser degree by other nonionic surfactants. Importantly, POES preserved the transfection efficiency of the complexes without inducing toxicity. The aggregation was also reduced by lowering the temperature and pH, diluting the complexes, and increasing the solution viscosity. It is concluded that PEI-DNA complexes aggregate primarily due to hydrophobic interactions, while electrostatic attractions play little role.     

Cationic surfactant mediated fibrillogenesis in bovine liver catalase: a biophysical approach

Protein aggregation into oligomers and mature fibrils are associated with more than 20 diseases in humans. The interactions between cationic surfactants dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) and tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB) with varying alkyl chain lengths and bovine liver catalase (BLC) were examined by various biophysical approaches. The delicate coordination of electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions with protein, play imperative role in aggregation. In this article, we have reconnoitered the relation between charge, hydrophobicity and cationic surfactants DTAB and TTAB on BLC at pH 7.4 and 9.4 which are two and four units above pI, respectively. We have used techniques like turbidity, Rayleigh light scattering, far-UV CD, ThT, ANS, Congo red binding assay, DLS, and transmission electron microscopy. The low concentration ranges of DTAB (0–600 μM) and TTAB (0–250 μM) were observed to increase aggregation at pH 9.4. Nevertheless, at pH 7.4 only TTAB was capable of inducing aggregate. DTAB did not produce any significant change in secondary structure at pH 7.4 suggestive of the role of respective charges on surfactants and protein according to the pI and alkyl chain length. The morphology of aggregates was further determined by TEM, which proved the existence of a fibrillar structure. The surfactants interaction with BLC was primarily electrostatic as examined by ITC. Our work demystifies the critical role of charge as well as hydrophobicity in amyloid formation.     

Development of a mixed mode adsorption process for the direct product sequestration of an extracellular protease from microbial batch cultures

Direct product sequestration of extracellular proteins from microbial batch cultures can be achieved by continuous or intermittent broth recycle through an external extractive loop. Here, we describe the development of a fluidisable, mixed mode adsorbent, designed to tolerate increasing ionic strength (synonymous with extended productive batch cultures). This facilitated operations for the integrated recovery of an extracellular acid protease from cultures of Yarrowia lipolytica. Mixed mode adsorbents were prepared using chemistries containing hydrophobic and ionic groups. Matrix hydrophobicity and titration ranges were matched to the requirements of integrated protease adsorption. A single expanded bed was able to service the productive phase of growth without recourse to the pH adjustment of the broth previously required for ion exchange adsorption. This resulted in increased yields of product, accompanied by further increases in enzyme specific activity. A step change from pH 4.5 to 2.6, across the isoelectric point of the protease, enabled high resolution fixed bed elution induced by electrostatic repulsion. The generic application of mixed mode chemistries, which combine the physical robustness of ion-exchange ligands in sanitisation and sterilisation procedures with a selectivity, which approaches that of affinity interactions, is discussed.     

Effect of homologous series of n-alkyl sulfates and n-alkyl trimethylammonium bromides on low molecular mass protein tyrosine phosphatase activity

The effect of anionic and cationic surfactants on acid phosphatase denaturation has been extensively studied. Low molecular mass (LMr) protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP), a key regulatory enzyme involved in many different processes in the cell, was distinctly affected by anionic (homologous series of n-alkyl sulfates (C8-C14)) and cationic (n-alkyl trimethylammonium bromides (C12-C16)) surfactants. At concentrations 10-fold lower critical micellar concentration (cmc) values, the enzyme was completely inactivated in the presence of anionic surfactants, in a process independent of the pH, and dependent on the chain length of the surfactants. Under the same conditions, the effect of cationic surfactants on the enzyme activity was pH-dependent and only at pH 7.0 full inactivation was observed at concentrations 10-fold higher cmc values. In contrast to cationic surfactants the effect of anionic surfactants on the enzyme activity was irreversible and was not affected by the presence of NaCl. Inorganic phosphate, a known competitive inhibitor of PTP, protected the enzyme against inactivation by the surfactants. Our results suggest that the inactivation of the LMr PTP by anionic and cationic surfactants involved both electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions, and that the interactions enzyme-surfactants probably occurred at or near the active site.     

Recovery of lactoferrin and lactoperoxidase from sweet whey using colloidal gas aphrons (CGAs) generated from an anionic surfactant, AOT

The recovery of lactoferrin and lactoperoxidase from sweet whey was studied using colloidal gas aphrons (CGAs), which are surfactant-stabilized microbubbles (10-100 microm). CGAs are generated by intense stirring (8000 rpm for 10 min) of the anionic surfactant AOT (sodium bis-2-ethylhexyl sulfosuccinate). A volume of CGAs (10-30 mL) is mixed with a given volume of whey (1-10 mL), and the mixture is allowed to separate into two phases: the aphron (top) phase and the liquid (bottom) phase. Each of the phases is analyzed by SDS-PAGE and surfactant colorimetric assay. A statistical experimental design has been developed to assess the effect of different process parameters including pH, ionic strength, the concentration of surfactant in the CGAs generating solution, the volume of CGAs and the volume of whey on separation efficiency. As expected pH, ionic strength and the volume of whey (i.e. the amount of total protein in the starting material) are the main factors influencing the partitioning of the Lf.Lp fraction into the aphron phase. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that best separation performance was achieved at pH = 4 and ionic strength = 0.1 mol/L i.e., with conditions favoring electrostatic interactions between target proteins and CGAs (recovery was 90% and the concentration of lactoferrin and lactoperoxidase in the aphron phase was 25 times higher than that in the liquid phase), whereas conditions favoring hydrophobic interactions (pH close to pI and high ionic strength) led to lower performance. However, under these conditions, as confirmed by zeta potential measurements, the adsorption of both target proteins and contaminant proteins is favored. Thus, low selectivity is achieved at all of the studied conditions. These results confirm the initial hypothesis that CGAs act as ion exchangers and that the selectivity of the process can be manipulated by changing main operating parameters such as type of surfactant, pH and ionic strength.     

The Hydrophobic Temperature Dependence of Amino Acids Directly Calculated from Protein Structures

The hydrophobic effect is the main driving force in protein folding. One can estimate the relative strength of this hydrophobic effect for each amino acid by mining a large set of experimentally determined protein structures. However, the hydrophobic force is known to be strongly temperature dependent. This temperature dependence is thought to explain the denaturation of proteins at low temperatures. Here we investigate if it is possible to extract this temperature dependence directly from a large set of protein structures determined at different temperatures. Using NMR structures filtered for sequence identity, we were able to extract hydrophobicity propensities for all amino acids at five different temperature ranges (spanning 265-340 K). These propensities show that the hydrophobicity becomes weaker at lower temperatures, in line with current theory. Alternatively, one can conclude that the temperature dependence of the hydrophobic effect has a measurable influence on protein structures. Moreover, this work provides a method for probing the individual temperature dependence of the different amino acid types, which is difficult to obtain by direct experiment.     

Relating surfactant properties to activity and solubilization of the human adenosine a3 receptor

The effects of various surfactants on the activity and stability of the human adenosine A3 receptor (A3) were investigated. The receptor was expressed using stably transfected HEK293 cells at a concentration of 44 pmol functional receptor per milligram membrane protein and purified using over 50 different nonionic surfactants. A strong correlation was observed between a surfactant's ability to remove A3 from the membrane and the ability of the surfactant to remove A3 selectively relative to other membrane proteins. The activity of A3 once purified also correlates well with the selectivity of the surfactant used. The effects of varying the surfactant were much stronger than those achieved by including A3 ligands in the purification scheme. Notably, all surfactants that gave high efficiency, selectivity and activity fall within a narrow range of hydrophile-lipophile balance values. This effect may reflect the ability of the surfactant to pack effectively at the hydrophobic transmembrane interface. These findings emphasize the importance of identifying appropriate surfactants for a particular membrane protein, and offer promise for the development of rapid, efficient, and systematic methods to facilitate membrane protein purification.     

General aspects of peptide selectivity towards lipid bilayers and cell membranes studied by variation of the structural parameters of amphipathic helical model peptides

Model compounds of modified hydrophobicity (H), hydrophobic moment (μ) and angle subtended by charged residues (Φ) were synthesized to define the general roles of structural motifs of cationic helical peptides for membrane activity and selectivity. The peptide sets were based on a highly hydrophobic, non-selective KLA model peptide with high antimicrobial and hemolytic activity. Variation of the investigated parameters was found to be a suitable method for modifying peptide selectivity towards either neutral or highly negatively charged lipid bilayers. H and μ influenced selectivity preferentially via modification of activity on 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (POPC) bilayers, while the size of the polar/hydrophobic angle affected the activity against 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoylphosphatidyl-DL-glycerol (POPG). The influence of the parameters on the activity determining step was modest in both lipid systems and the activity profiles were the result of the parameters’ influence on the second less pronounced permeabilization step. Thus, the activity towards POPC vesicles was determined by the high permeabilizing efficiency, however, changes in the structural parameters preferentially influenced the relatively moderate affinity. In contrast, intensive peptide accumulation via electrostatic interactions was sufficient for the destabilization of highly negatively charged POPG lipid membranes, but changes in the activity profile, as revealed by the modification of Φ, seem to be preferentially caused by variation of the low permeabilizing efficiency. The parameters proved very effective also in modifying antimicrobial and hemolytic activity. However, their influence on cell selectivity was limited. A threshold value of hydrophobicity seems to exist which restricted the activity modifying potential of μ and Φ on both lipid bilayers and cell membranes.