Denaturation studies on bovine serum albumin–bile salt system:Bile salt stabilizes bovine serum albumin through hydrophobicity

Protein denaturation is under intensive research, since it leads to neurological disorders of severe consequences. Avoiding denaturation and stabilizing the proteins in their native state is of great importance,especially when proteins are used as drug molecules or vaccines. It is preferred to add pharmaceutical excipients in protein formulations to avoid denaturation and thereby stabilize them. The present study aimed at using bile salts(BSs), a group of well-known drug delivery systems, for stabilization of proteins.Bovine serum albumin(BSA) was taken as the model protein, whose association with two BSs, namely sodium cholate(Na C) and sodium deoxycholate(Na DC), was studied. Denaturation studies on the preformed BSA-BS systems were carried out under chemical and physical denaturation conditions. Urea was used as the chemical denaturant and BSA-BS systems were subjected to various temperature conditions to understand the thermal(physical) denaturation. With the denaturation conditions prescribed here,the data obtained is informative on the association of BSA-BS systems to be hydrophobic and this effect of hydrophobicity plays an important role in stabilizing the serum albumin in its native state under both chemical and thermal denaturation.

Effect of enzymatic fish frame protein hydrolysate on freeze-induced denaturation of myofibrillar protein from bighead carp fish （Aristichthys nobilis ） during frozen storage

Three kinds offish frame protein hydrolysates （PPH, APH and FPH） were prepared from fish frame of red drum （ Sciaenops ocellatus ） by papain, alkaline proteinase and flavorzyme treatment. The hydrolysates were mainly composed of peptide （83.5 % -84.6% ） and displayed different molecular weight distribution pattern. The protective effects of hydrolysates on the freeze-induced denaturation of myofibrillar protein （Mf） from bighead carp （Aristichthys nobilis） mince during storage at -20℃ for 12 weeks were investigated. The hydrolysate （5 % dried weight/wet weight） reduced the freeze-induced denaturation of Mf as evidenced by the lowered decrease in Ca-ATPase activity and reactive sulfllydryl contents as well as the impeded increase in surface hydrophobicity. Microscopic photographs indicated that the hydrolysates inhibited the growth of ice crystal in fish mince, and then prevented the aggregation of Mf during frozen storage. The protective effects of hydrolysates on freeze-induced denaturation of Mf were influenced by the molecular weight distribution. PPH had strongest cryoprotective ability among three hydrolysates.

CALORIMETRIC STUDY OF COLD AND THERMAL DENATURATION OF BOVINE β-LACTOGLOBULIN B

The denaturational behaviour of bovine β-lactoglobulin B has been studied in solutions containing guanidine hydrochloride by differential scanning calorimetry. The experiments have shown that complete peaks of cold denaturation can be recorded also in high concentration of protein solutions. The cold denaturation and the renaturation of the protein are reproducible, but the thermal denaturation is irreversible. The activation energy of thermal denaturation calculated is about 285 kJ/mol.

OBSERVATION OF DNA PARTIAL DENATURATION BY ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY

Atomic force microscopy was used to investigate the DNA-cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) complexes adsorbed on highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). These complexes, at low concentrations, can automatically spread out on the surface of HOPG. The DNA-CTAB complexes display a typically extended structure rather than a globular structure. Partially denaturated DNA produced by binding CTAB to DNA is directly observed by AFM with high resolution. The three-dimensional resolution of partially denaturated DNA obtained by AFM is not available by any other technique at present.

Pressure- and Urea-Induced Denaturation of Bovine Serum Albumin: Considerations about Protein Heterogeneity

Urea denatures proteins at different concentrations, depending on the experimental conditions and the protein. We in-vestigated the pressure-induced denaturation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in the presence of subdenaturing concen-trations of urea based on a two-state equilibrium. Pressure-induced denaturation was enhanced at urea concentrations ([U]) of 3.5 M to 8.0 M, with the free energy of denaturation at atmospheric pressure ranging from +5.0 to –2.5 kJ/mol of BSA. The m values appeared to be biphasic, with m1 and m2 of 0.92 and 2.35 kJ mol–1?M–1, respectively. Plots of versus ln[U] yielded values of u, the apparent stoichiometric coefficient, of 1.68 and 6.67 mol of urea/mol of BSA for m1 and m2, respectively. These values were compared with the m and u values of other monomeric proteins reported in or calculated from the literature. The very low values of u systematically observed for proteins were suggestive of heterogeneity in the free energy of denaturation. Thus, a u value of 140 mol of urea/mol of BSA may indicate the existence of a heterogeneous molecular population with respect to the free energy of dena-turation.

Theory of cold denaturation of proteins

A new approach to the problem of cold denaturation is presented. It is based on solvent-induced effects operating on hydrophilic groups along the protein. These effects are stronger than the corresponding hydrophobic effects, and they operate on the hydrophilic groups which are plentiful than hydrophobic groups. It is shown that both heat and cold denaturation can be explained by these hydrophilic effects.

Theoretical Study on Effects of Salt and Temperature on Denaturation Transition of Double-stranded DNA

We investigate the statistical mechanics properties of a nonlinear dynamics model of the denaturation of the DNA double-helix and study the effects of salt concentration and temperature on denaturation transition of DNA. The specific heat, entropy, and denaturation temperature of the system versus salt concentration are obtained. These results show that the denaturation of DNA not only depends on the temperature but also is influenced by the salt concentration in the solution of DNA, which are in agreement with experimental measurement.

Denaturation of DNA in Ternary Mixed Solution of Water/Hydrophilic/Hydrophobic Organic Solvent

Denaturation was examined for the first time in a ternary mixed solution of water/hydrophilic/ hydrophobic organic solvent using λ-DNA and a plasmid as models. The absorbance of λ-DNA and the plasmid at 260 nm gradually increased for several days up to 1.68 and 1.38 times the initial values, respectively, in a water/acetonitrile/ethyl acetate (15:3:2, volume ratio) mixed solution, whereas there was little change in a water/acetonitrile (15:3, volume ratio) mixed solution. The plasmid treated with the ternary mixed solution was also examined with agarose gel electrophoresis. These experimental data indicated that λ-DNA changed from a double helix structure to a single helix structure and that the plasmid partially transformed to generate a denaturation bubble in the structure. The new idea of using the ternary mixed solution first enabled the interaction of the hydrophobic organic solvent (e.g., ethyl acetate) molecule with the double helical structure of DNA, leading to specific slow-proceeding denaturation.

Preparation of Bovine Serum Albumin Microspheres by an Acetone-ethanol Heat Denaturation Method

Stable sub 500 nm bovine serum albumin (BSA) microsphere suspensions were produced by controlled addition of acetone and ethanol to an aqueous solution of BSA, followed by stabilization process of the formed microspheres at an elevated temperature. Microspheres produced by this acetone ethanol heat denaturation method were stabilized at relatively low temperatures (70～75℃) over a short period of time (20 min). The acetone ethanol heat denaturation method, in comparison with the traditional oil/ water technique for preparation of albumin microspheres, which requires high temperature (over 100℃) and longer heating time (more than 30 min) for stabilization, offers a number of advantages. This report describes the influence of process conditions, such as ratios of acetone to ethanol to BSA aqueous solution, heating time and heating temperature, on microsphere formation and their stability. A loading efficiency of 40% rose bengal was achieved. Rose bengal release rates from these microspheres in phosphate buffered saline medium at 37 ℃ were dependent on microsphere stabilities and 25% to 60% of initial loading drug were released in 15 days.

Analysis of Lattice Size, Energy Density and Denaturation for a One-Dimensional DNA Model

There are several mechanical models to describe the DNA phenomenology. In this work the DNA denaturation is studied under thermodynamical and dynamical point of view using the well known Peyrard-Bishop model. The thermodynamics analysis using the transfer integral operator method is briefly reviewed. In particular, the lattice size is discussed and a conjecture about the minimum energy to denaturation is proposed. In terms of the dynamical aspects of the model, the equations of motion for the system are integrated and the results determine the energy density where the denatura- tion occurs. The behavior of the lattice near the phase transition is analyzed. The relation between the thermodynamical and dynamical results is discussed.

Characterization of depth-related microbial communities in lake sediment by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of amplified 16S rRNA fragments

The characterization of microbial communities of different depth sediment samples was examined by a culture-independent method and compared with physicochemical parameters, those are organic matter （OM）, total nitrogen （TN）, total phosphorus （TP）, pH and redox potential （Eh）. Total genomic DNA was extracted from samples derived from different depths. After they were amplified with the GC-341 f/907r primer sets of partial bacterial 16S rRNA genes, the products were separated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （DGGE）. The profile of DGGE fingerprints of different depth sediment samples revealed that the community structure remained relatively stable along the entire 45 cm sediment core, however, principal-component analysis of DGGE patterns revealed that at greater sediment depths, successional shifts in community structure were evident. The principle coordinates analysis suggested that the bacterial communities along the sediment core could be separated into two groups, which were located 0-20 cm and 21-45 cm, respectively. The sequencing dominant bands demonstrated that the major phylogenetic groups identified by DGGE belonged to Bacillus, Bacterium, Brevibacillus, Exiguobacterium, γ-Proteobacterium, Acinetobacter sp. and some uncultured or unidentified bacteria. The results indicated the existence of highly diverse bacterial community in the lake sediment core.

Refolding of reduced/denatured bovine pancreatic insulin with ion-exchange chromatography coupled with MALDI-TOF MS

The refolding of the reduced/denatured insulin from bovine pancreas as the model protein was investigated with weak anion exchange chromatography （WAX） coupled with MALDI-TOF MS. The results indicated that the disulfide bonds almost cannot be formed correctly with the common mobile phase by WAX. However, with the urea gradient elution and in the presence of GSSG/ Cyst as the ratio 1：6 in the mobile phase employed, the disulfide exchange of reduced/denatured insulin can be accelerated resulting in forming the correct three disulfide bonds. The protein refolding efficiency of reduced/denatured insulin can be increased from 3 % to 34%. The effects of urea gradient and the oxidant and reductant groups, such as GSSG/GSH, Cyst, and GSSG/Cyst, on the forming the disulfide bonds of reduced/denatured insulin were investigated in detail. The results were further tested by the separation of the WAX fraction of reduced/denatured insulin with RPLC and MALDI-TOF MS.

Signal Peptide and Denaturing Temperature are Critical Factors for Efficient Mammalian Expression and Immunoblotting of Cannabinoid Receptors

Many researchers employed mammalian expression system to artificially express cannabinoid receptors, but immunoblot data that directly prove efficient protein expression can hardly be seen in related research reports. In present study, we demonstrated cannabinoid receptor protein was not able to be properly expressed with routine mammalian expression system. This inefficient expression was rescued by endowing an exogenous signal peptide ahead of cannabinoid receptor peptide. In addition, the artificially synthesized cannabinoid receptor was found to aggregate under routine sample denaturing temperatures (i.e.,≥95°C), forming a large molecular weight band when analyzed by immuno-blotting. Only denaturing temperatures ≤75°C yielded a clear band at the predicted molecular weight. Collectively, we showed that efficient mammalian expression of cannabinoid receptors need a signal peptide sequence, and described the requirement for a low sample denaturing temperature in immuno-blot analysis. These findings provide very useful information for efficient mammalian expression and immuno-blotting of membrane receptors.

STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MELTING POINT AND ACID DENATURING ACIDITY OF DNA BY ULTRAVIOLET SPECTROMETER

The relationship between meltillg point and acid denaturing acidity of DNA was studied by ultraviolet spectrometer. According to our investigation there exists a good linear relationship between melting point and acid denaturing acidity of DNA. The acid denaturing acidity. which could be obtained easily. may be used in the field of biochemistry as an alternative to melting point.

Analysis of interspecies adherence of oral bacteria using a membrane binding assay coupled with polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiling

Information on co-adherence of different oral bacterial species is important for understanding interspecies interactions within oral microbial community. Current knowledge on this topic is heavily based on pariwise coaggregation of known, cultivable species. In this study, we employed a membrane binding assay coupled with polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （PCR-DGGE） to systematically analyze the co-adherence profiles of oral bacterial species, and achieved a more profound knowledge beyond pairwise coaggregation. Two oral bacterial species were selected to serve as ＂bait＂： Fusobacterium nucleatum （F. nucleatum） whose ability to adhere to a multitude of oral bacterial species has been extensively studied for pairwise interactions and Streptococcus mutans （S. mutans） whose interacting partners are largely unknown. To enable screening of interacting partner species within bacterial mixtures, cells of the ＂bait＂ oral bacterium were immobilized on nitrocellulose membranes which were washed and blocked to prevent unspecific binding. The ＂prey＂ bacterial mixtures （including known species or natural saliva samples） were added, unbound ceils were washed off after the incubation period and the remaining cells were eluted using 0.2 mol.L1 glycine. Genomic DNA was extraeted, subjeeted to 16S rRNA PCR amplification and separation of the resulting PCR produets by DGGE. Selected bands were recovered from the gel, sequenced and identified via Nucleotide BLAST searches against different databases. While few bacterial species bound to S. mutans, consistent with previous findings F.. nucleatum adhered to a variety of bacterial species including uncultivable and uneharacterized onesl This new approach can more effectively analyze the co-adherence profiles of oral bacteria, and could facilitate the systematic study of interbacterial binding of oral microbial species.

Variations in Laboratory-Scale Actinomycete Communities Exposed to Cadmium as Assessed by Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis Profiles

The actinomycete populations and functions in cadmium （Cd） contaminated soil were investigated by the cultivation- independent molecular methods. The genomic DNA was extracted and purified from soil adulterated with various con- centrations of Cd in the laboratory. The partial 16S rDNA genes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction （PCR） using specific primers bound to evolutionarily conserved regions within these actinomycete genes. The diversity in PCR- amplified products, as measured by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （EGGE）, was used as a genetic fingerprint of the population. Principle component analysis and Shannon-Weaver diversity index （H） analyses were used to analyze the DGGE results. Results showed that the two principal components accounted for only a low level of the total variance. The value H in contaminated soil was lower than that in the control at later stages of cultivation, whereas at earlier stages it was higher. Among the six sampling time points, the first, fifth and sixth weeks had the highest values of H. Significantly negative correlations between bioavallable Cd concentration and H values existed in the samples from weeks 2 （R = 0.929, P 〈 0.05） and 4 （R = 0.909, P 〈 0.05）. These results may shed light on the effect of Cd on the soil environment and the chemical behavior and toxicity of Cd to actinomycetes.

Analysis of microsatellite instability in stool DNA of patients with colorectal cancer using denaturing high performance liquid chromatography

AIM： To evaluate the usefulness of denaturing high performance liquid chromatography （DHPLC） for analyzing microsatellite instability （MSI） status in stool DNA of patients with colorectal cancer. METHODS： A total of 80 cancer tissues from patients with primary sporadic colorectal tumor （proximal cancer： 27, distal cancer： 53） and matched stool （which were employed for comparison with the tissues） were analyzed for MSI status in BAT 26. DNA samples extracted from stool were evaluated by nested polymerase chain reaction （PCR） and DHPLC for MSI analysis. RESULTS： Six cases （7.5%） of MSI were identified in BAT 26 from 80 cancer tissues. All the stool DNA samples from patients whose cancer tissue showed IVlSI also displayed MSI in BAT 26. CONCLUSION： As MSI is one of the established fecal DNA markers to screen colorectal cancer, we propose to use DHPLC for the IVlSI analysis in fecal DNA.

原棉与医用脱脂棉纤维结构及热变性研究

探讨原棉与医用脱脂棉纤维结构及热变性。采用中红外(MIR)光谱开展了原棉与医用脱脂棉纤维结构研究,采用变温及二维MIR光谱开展了原棉与医用脱脂棉纤维热变性研究。结果表明:原棉与医用脱脂棉纤维主要官能团的红外吸收模式包括O—H基团伸缩振动模式(ν_(OH)),C—H基团弯曲振动模式(δ_(CH))及C—O基团伸缩振动模式(ν_(C-O))。原棉纤维中杂质结构的红外吸收模式包括CH2基团不对称伸缩振动模式(ν_(as CH2-杂质结构))、CH_(2)基团对称伸缩振动模式(ν_(s CH2-杂质结构))、C=O基团伸缩振动模式(ν_(C=O-杂质结构))、蛋白质酰胺Ⅰ带特征吸收峰(ν_(amide-Ⅰ-杂质结构))和蛋白质酰胺Ⅱ带特征吸收峰(ν_(amide-Ⅱ-杂质结构))。原棉纤维中杂质结构主要包含油脂及蛋白质。原棉纤维含有晶体结构及少量非晶体结构,而医用脱脂棉纤维中含有晶体及非晶体结构。热扰动因素下,原棉与医用脱脂棉纤维官能团(ν_(OH)、δ_(CH)和ν_(C—O)、晶体结构、非晶体结构)对热的敏感程度、分子间及分子内的相互作用力均存在着一定的差异性。

热诱导乳蛋白变性机理的研究进展

热处理经常在乳制品加工过程中被应用,以确保产品的安全性和更长的货架期。加热过程会导致乳蛋白的结构改变并进一步损伤产品最终的营养、感官品质以及产品性能,例如出现聚集、表观黏度增加以及沉降等现象,还会导致热交换器表面结垢影响热交换系统效率。本综述通过探讨影响乳蛋白热诱导变性的因素,主要从乳成分、理化性质以及工艺过程等方面深入分析乳蛋白热诱导变性机理,并总结归纳了提高乳蛋白热稳定性的方法,旨在为乳基液体产品特别是高蛋白乳制品以及浓缩乳产品的开发提供理论依据。

核酸适配体筛选中单链DNA制备方法的研究进展

核酸适配体是人工合成的短链核酸,作为分子识别元件,能够与各类靶标物质高特异性、高亲和力的结合,分为单链DNA和RNA两种类型。其中单链DNA适配体由于其稳定性比RNA适配体更好而更受欢迎,因此得到广泛应用。核酸适配体筛选通常是通过配体指数富集系统进化技术(systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment,SELEX)实现的,筛选能否成功在很大程度上取决于其最关键的单链制备步骤,即将双链DNA转化为相应的单链DNA。目前,存在许多方法可以制备单链DNA,包括热变性法、生物素-链霉亲和素亲和分离法、变性胶电泳分离法、核酸外切酶消化法、不对称聚合酶链式反应(polymerase chain reaction,PCR)法等。本文在总结文献报道的基础上,具体阐述了各种单链DNA制备方法的原理、优缺点及近5年的应用情况,并对这些单链DNA制备方法进行了比较和展望,以期能为成功筛选各类靶标的核酸适配体提供参考。