Studies on Aggregation Interaction between Reduced Denatured Egg White Lysozymes during Refolding Procedure in Urea Solution

The aggregation interaction between reduced-denatured egg white lysozymes during refolding procedure in urea solution was studied by means of reducing and non-reducing protein electrophoreses. Results of non-reducing sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis （SDS-PAGE） of the supernatant and aggregate precipitate formed in refolding process show that except being refolded to native egg white lysozymes, the reduced-denatured lysozymes can also form the aggregates with molecular weights （MW） being separately about 30.0 and 35.0 kD, while the reducing SDS-PAGE and the refolding results in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate show that these aggregates are formed chiefly through the misconnection of disulfide bonds between the reduced-denatured lysozymes, and the aggregate precipitates are formed through the non-covalent interactions between the aggregates with molecular weight being about 30.0 kD. From the results of electrophoresis and size-exclusion chromatographic analyses, it can be inferred that the aggregates with molecular weights being about 30.0 and 35.0 kD are bi-molecular and tri-molecular egg white lysozyme aggregates, respectively. And finally, a suggested refolding mechanism of reduced-denatured egg white lysozymes in urea solution was presented.     

Extractability, stability, and allergenicity of egg white proteins in differently heat-processed foods

Hen's egg white protein is a major cause of food allergy, and a considerable number of countries have introduced labeling directions for processed food products. To control compliance with these regulations, analytical assays for the detection of egg in manufactured foods have been developed. In this study, we have tested the performance of 3 commercially available kits for quantitative egg analysis using 6 model heat-processed foods. The 3 assays worked well under standard conditions with soluble egg white proteins, but only the kit using a denaturing-reducing extraction buffer detected egg in complex heat-treated food matrixes. The differently extracted food samples were further used to evaluate the stability and allergenicity of the egg white allergens ovalbumin, ovomucoid, ovotransferrin, and lysozyme with polyclonal anti-egg antibodies and sera of 6 patients with egg allergy. It could be shown that differences in egg protein extractability have a significant impact on the interpretation of study results.     

溶液中变性剂浓度对蛋白溶菌酶复性的影响

Based on three-state renaturation process of denatured proteins, an equation describing the effect of denaturant concentration on renaturation yield of denatured proteins was presented. By this equation, two parameters n（m1 -m2） and Ka can be obtained. The former indicates the difference in the number of denaturant molecules between the renaturation process of n number of refolding intermediates from refolding intermediate state to native state and their aggregate process from refolding intermediate state to aggregate state, the latter denotes the apparent aggregate equilibrium constant for protein molecules aggregated from native state to aggregate state, and from them, the characteristics of the renaturation process of denatured proteins in denaturant solution can be identified. This equation was tested by the renaturation processes of denatured egg white lysozyme in guanidine hydrochloride and urea solutions, with the results to show that when guanidine hydrochloride and urea concentrations were separately higher than 1.25 and 3.00 mol/L or separately lower than 1.00 and 3.00 mol/L, the refolding intermediates of egg white lysozymes were more easily aggregated to aggregate state or more easily renatured to native state, respectively. Under different initial total egg white lysozyme concentrations in urea solution, the refolding egg white lysozyme intermediates could be deduced to have a tendency to form a bimolecular intermediate aggregate, and this inference was further confirmed by their nonreducing SDS-PAGE and size exclusion chromatography.     

Particle-loaded hollow-fiber membrane adsorbers for lysozyme separation

The separation of lysozyme (LZ), a valuable enzyme naturally present in chicken egg white, was carried out using a new type of ion exchange hollow-fiber membranes. Functionalities were incorporated into the polymeric membranes by dispersing ion-exchange resins (IERs) in a microporous structure formed by phase inversion. The obtained hollow-fibers were composed of ion-exchange particles surrounded by a polymeric matrix and possessed both high static and dynamic adsorption capacities of more than 60 mg/ml membrane. The hollow-fiber membrane adsorbers were connected in series with different numbers of fibers thereby increasing the effective thickness and the protein residence time within the module. By choosing appropriate operation conditions, the membranes adsorbed solely LZ from fresh chicken egg white (eventually also the minor component avidin), whereas the adsorption of ovalbumin, ovotransferrin, and other low isoelectric point proteins was negligible. An average separation factor for LZ of about 150 was calculated by numerical integration of the protein concentrations in the elution curve during the filtration run. The effect of the filtration flow rate, protein concentration and ionic strength on the membrane's performance was investigated to determine the optimum operation parameters.     

Development of a novel two-dimensional gel electrophoresis protocol with agarose native gel electrophoresis

A new protocol for conducting two-dimensional (2D) electrophoresis was developed by combining the recently developed agarose native gel electrophoresis with either vertical sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) or flat SDS agarose gel electrophoresis. Our innovative technique utilizes His/MES buffer (pH 6.1) during the first-dimensional (1D) agarose native gel electrophoresis, which allows for the simultaneous and clear visualization of basic and acidic proteins in their native states or complex structures. Our agarose gel electrophoresis is a true native electrophoresis, unlike blue native–PAGE, which relies on the intrinsic charged states of the proteins and their complexes without the need for dye binding. In the 2D, the gel strip from the 1D agarose gel electrophoresis is soaked in SDS and placed on top of the vertical SDS–PAGE gels or the edge of the flat SDS–MetaPhor high-resolution agarose gels. This allows for customized operation using a single electrophoresis device at a low cost. This technique has been successfully applied to analyze various proteins, including five model proteins (BSA, factor Xa, ovotransferrin, IgG, and lysozyme), monoclonal antibodies with slightly different isoelectric points, polyclonal antibodies, and antigen–antibody complexes, as well as complex proteins such as IgM pentamer and β-galactosidase tetramer. Our protocol can be completed within a day, taking approximately 5–6 h, and can be expanded further into Western blot analysis, mass spectrometry analysis, and other analytical methods.     

Hen egg white fractionation by ion-exchange chromatography

Major hen egg white proteins have been widely studied for their functional properties but these studies still are unable to explain, alone, all of the biological properties of hen egg white. Hence, it is still interesting to produce pure and non-altered proteins to improve our knowledge on the biological properties of hen egg white. Presently, identification and characterization of both bioactive peptides and minor proteins from hen egg white is essential work for progressing in the understanding of hen egg white biological properties. With this objective in mind, a new process for a complete "mucin free" hen egg white fractionation based on ion exchange chromatography is proposed. "Mucin free" egg white is fractionated into six different fractions. Four of them are high-recovery yield purified fractions of lysozyme, ovotransferrin, ovalbumin and flavoprotein. The two other fractions are enriched in recently detected minor proteins in hen egg white.     

Thermosensitive copolymers of N-vinylimidazole as displacers of proteins in immobilised metal affinity chromatography

Synthetic copolymers of N-vinylcaprolactam (VCL) and N-vinylimidazole (VI) were studied as thermosensitive, reusable displacers for immobilised metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) of proteins. The copolymer with weight-average molecular mass of 11700 g/mol prepared by free radical polymerisation at a 9:1 monomer molar ratio was separated into several fractions by IMAC and thermal precipitation. The fraction with an average VI content of 8.5% was most efficient as a reusable displacer for IMAC of ovalbumin, lysozyme and other proteins of egg white on Cu2+-IDA-Sepharose. The displacer exhibited a sharp breakthrough curve and binding capacity of 16-20 mg/ml gel, depending on the flow-rate. The recovery of egg white proteins in the course of displacement chromatography was >95%. The displacer could be removed quantitatively from the protein fractions by thermal precipitation at 48 degrees C. Co-precipitation of lysozyme with the displacer was minimal in the presence of 3% (v/v) acetonitrile, while the lysozyme enzymatic activity in the supernatant was completely retained. Addition of free imidazole to the mobile phase increased the rate of protein desorption and allowed better separation of egg white proteins and the displacer in the course of chromatography. The displacement profile of the egg white extract consisted of three zones with different distributions of individual proteins characterised by SDS-PAGE. Regeneration of the column was easily performed with 0.02 M EDTA in 0.15 M sodium chloride, pH 8.0, followed by washing with distilled water and reloading with Cu2+. The displacer could also be regenerated by thermal precipitation at 48 degrees C and subsequent dialysis against dilute hydrochloric acid (pH 2.5).     

Theory of hopping conductivity of proteins

Quantum chemical calculations for two different kinds of native proteins (pig insulin and hen egg white lysozyme) were done by the extended negative factor counting method in which the matrix elements have been calculated at the ab initio level with the help of a minimal basis and the simulation of the aqueous solution environment. The hopping conductivities were worked out by the formulas of the random walk theory of Lax and co-workers. The electronic density of states of these native proteins confirmed the conclusions obtained previously from aperiodic model peptides chains. The results show that the ac conductivity vs. frequency curve of these native proteins lies in the range of some typical good inorganic amorphous conductors and thus confirm that proteins, if doped, are amorphous conductors. The behavior of the ac conductivities of the proteins in different ranges of frequencies are discussed. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

用蛋白电泳和高效凝胶排阻色谱法分析还原脲变性蛋白溶菌酶稀释复性过程的集聚体

本文利用蛋白电泳和高效凝胶排阻层析法分析了还原脲变性蛋白溶菌酶稀释复性过程中的集聚体。当用复性液稀释复性还原脲变性蛋白溶菌酶时,会迅速产生可观量的沉淀。沉淀和上清液的不连续十二烷基硫酸钠-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳(SDS-PAGE)和高效凝胶排阻层析分析结果表明,还原脲变性蛋白溶菌酶在稀释复性过程中除了能够复性成天然态蛋白溶菌酶分子外,还会形成可溶的蛋白溶菌酶分子二聚体和三聚体,二聚体和三聚体主要是靠分子间二硫键的错配连接而成的;可溶的蛋白溶菌酶分子二聚体之间通过非共价键相互作用而形成集聚体沉淀,而可溶的三聚体溶菌酶分子则仍处于复性液上清液中。     

高效阳离子交换法分离纯化蛋清中的溶菌酶

 建立了用高效阳离子交换分离纯化蛋清中溶菌酶的新方法 ,讨论了纯化的工艺条件。蛋清样品匀浆后 ,用氯化钠初步纯化 ,然后用弱阳离子交换柱XIDACE WCX分离。结果表明 ,被纯化的溶菌酶和杂蛋白得到很好分离。经活性检测 ,溶菌酶过柱后的活性回收率为 10 7% ,蛋白的比活为 15 4 6 7U/mg ,纯化倍数提高了 5 6倍。用尺寸排阻 (SEC)鉴定 ,得到的溶菌酶呈均一性。该法较传统软基质低压离子交换分离速度快 ,纯化效率高。     

Synthesis of Monodisperse Poly（glycidylmethacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate） Beads and Their Application in Separation of Biopolymers

Introduction Since 19541 the polymeric separation media has attracted much attention due to their chemical stability over the entire pH range. The rigid, highly cross-linked styrene copolymers were first used for chromatography by Moore.2 The macroporous copolymers currently available are not only chemically stable but also more resistant to mechanical forces prevailing in a column and therefore are comparable to the traditional packings based on silica gel. Most polymer separation media are …     

An integrated process for purification of lysozyme, ovalbumin, and ovomucoid from hen egg white

This article describes an integrated process for simultaneous purification of lysozyme, ovalbumin, and ovomucoid from hen egg white. The crude egg white extract was passed through a cation exchanger Streamline trade mark SP and the bound lysozyme was eluted with 5% ammonium carbonate, pH 9.0, containing 1 M NaCl after elution of avidin. This partially purified lysozyme was further purified 639-fold on dye-linked cellulose beads. Ovalbumin and ovomucoid did not bind to Streamline SP. Ovalbumin could be precipitated from this unbound fraction by 5% trichloroacetic acid, and ovomucoid was removed from the supernatant by precipitation with ethanol. The yields of lysozyme, ovomucoid, and ovalbumin were 77, 94, and 98%, respectively. All the purified proteins showed single bands on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. All the steps are easily scalable, and the process described here can be used for large-scale simultaneous purification of these proteins in the pure form.     

Novel staining-free proteomic method for simultaneous identification of proteins and determination of their pI values by using low-molecular-mass pI markers

A new proteomic staining-free method for simultaneous identification of proteins and determination of their pI values by using low-molecular-mass pI markers is described. It is based on separation of proteins in gels by IEF in combination with mass spectrometric analysis of both peptides derived by in-gel digestion and low-molecular-mass pI markers extracted form the same piece excised from the gel. In this method, the pI markers are mixed with a protein mixture (a commercial malted barley protein extract) deposited on a gel and separated in a pH gradient. Color pI markers enable supervision of progress of focusing process. Several separated bands of the pI markers (including separated proteins) were excised and the pI markers were eluted from each gel piece by water/ethanol and identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF MS. The remaining carrier ampholytes were then washed out from gel pieces and proteins were in-gel digested with trypsin or chymotrypsin. Obtained peptides were measured by MALDI-TOF/TOF MS and proteins were identified via protein database search. This procedure allows omitting time-consuming protein staining and destaining procedures, which shortens the analysis time. For comparison, other IEF gels were stained with CBB R 250 and proteins in the gel bands were identified. Similarity of the results confirmed that our approach can give information about the correct pI values of particular proteins in complex samples at significantly shorter analysis times. This method can be very useful for identification of proteins and their post-translational modifications in prefractioned samples, where post-translational modifications (e.g., glycation) are frequent.     

非还原脲变性蛋白溶菌酶稀释复性过程中集聚现象的研究

用十二烷基硫酸钠-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳、阴极聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳和高效凝胶排阻色谱法, 研究了非还原脲变性蛋白溶菌酶在稀释复性过程中的集聚现象. 实验发现, 在整个稀释复性过程中, 没有蛋白溶菌酶集聚体沉淀产生. 当最终复性液中蛋白溶菌酶浓度小于4.0 mg/mL时, 复性过程中不会形成蛋白溶菌酶分子集聚体; 当最终复性液中蛋白溶菌酶浓度介于4.0～8.0 mg/mL时, 复性过程中会形成由非共价相互作用所引起的蛋白溶菌酶二分子和三分子集聚体; 而当最终复性液中蛋白溶菌酶浓度大于8.0 mg/mL时, 复性过程中除了会形成二分子和三分子蛋白溶菌酶集聚体外, 还会形成四分子蛋白溶菌酶集聚体. 在此基础上, 结合文献, 对非还原脲变性蛋白溶菌酶的稀释复性过程进行了描述.     

Novel tetrazole-functionalized ion exchanger for weak cation-exchange chromatography of proteins

A new type of weak cation exchanger, tetrazole-functionalized silica, was developed for bioseparation. It was prepared conveniently by modifying silica gel initially with gamma-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, then with 3-hydroxypropionitrile and finally with ammonium-catalyzed (3+2) azide-nitrile cycloaddition, which is an element of click chemistry. The prepared stationary phase was characterized and evaluated for its separation performance, protein retention behavior, loading capacity, protein recovery and chemical stability. The results show that the stationary phase developed has excellent performance for protein separations with high mass recoveries, and has long-term stability. Some remarkable differences were observed between this new exchanger and a carboxylic methyl-functionalized ion exchanger, which is typically used in weak cation-exchange chromatography of proteins. The obtained column was also used for the purification of lysozyme from chicken egg white, and the purity and specific bioactivity of the obtained lysozyme were about 90% and 67 IU/mg, respectively.     

Two-dimensional gel isoelectric focusing

Two-dimensional gel isoelectric focusing (2-D gel IEF) is presented as the combination of the same separation method used consecutively in two directions of the same gel. In this new method, after completion of IEF process in the first dimension the gel was cut into the separate strips, each containing selected analytes together with the appropriate part of the original broad pH gradient, and the strips were rotated by 90 degrees (with regard to the first IEF) and left to diffuse overnight. After diffusion the strips were subjected to the second IEF. During the second IEF, the corresponding narrow part of pH gradient in each strip was restored again, however, now along the strip. The progress of the separation process can be monitored visually by using colored low-molecular-weight isoelectric point (pI) markers loaded into the gel simultaneously with proteins. The unique properties of IEF, focusing and resolution power were enhanced by using the same technique twice. Two forms of beta-lactoglobulin (pI values 5.14 and 5.31, respectively) non-separated in the first IEF were successfully separated in the second dimension at relatively low voltage (330 V) with the resolution power comparable to the high-resolution gels requiring the high voltage during the run and long separation time. Glucose oxidase loaded as diluted solution into ten positions across the gel was finally focused into a single band during 2-D gel IEF. Since the first and second IEF are carried out on the same gel, no losses and contamination of analyte occur. The suggested method can be used for separation/fractionation of complex biological mixtures, similarly as other multidimensional separation techniques applied in proteomics, and can be followed by further processing, e.g., mass spectrometry analysis. The focusing properties of IEF could be useful especially in separation of mixtures, where components are at low concentration levels.     

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Ester‐Linked Hen Egg White Lysozyme Reveals the Effect of Missing Backbone Hydrogen Bond Donors on the Protein Structure

The three‐dimensional structure of a protein is stabilized by a number of different atomic interactions. One of these is hydrogen bonding. Its influence on the spatial structure of the hen egg white lysozyme is investigated by replacing peptide bonds (except those of the two proline residues) by ester bonds. Molecular dynamics simulations of native and ester‐linked lysozyme are compared with the native crystal structure and with NOE distance bounds derived from solution NMR experiments. The ester‐linked protein shows a slight compaction while losing its native structure. However, it does not unfold completely. The structure remains compact due to its hydrophobic core and a changed network of hydrogen bonds involving side chains.     

Two-dimensional electrophoresis of membrane proteins

One third of all genes of various organisms encode membrane proteins, emphasizing their crucial cellular role. However, due to their high hydrophobicity, membrane proteins demonstrate low solubility and a high tendency for aggregation. Indeed, conventional two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), a powerful electrophoretic method for the separation of complex protein samples that applies isoelectric focusing (IEF) in the first dimension and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) in the second dimension, has a strong bias against membrane proteins. This review describes two-dimensional electrophoretic techniques that can be used to separate membrane proteins. Alternative methods for performing conventional 2-DE are highlighted; these involve replacing the IEF with electrophoresis using cationic detergents, namely 16-benzyldimethyl-n-hexadecylammonium chloride (16-BAC) and cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), or the anionic detergent SDS. Finally, the separation of native membrane protein complexes through the application of blue and clear native gel electrophoresis (BN/CN-PAGE) is reviewed, as well as the free-flow electrophoresis (FFE) of membranes.     

Preparation of Immobilized Metal Affinity Chromatographic Packings Based on Monodisperse Hydrophilic Non‐porous Beads and Their Application

Three hydrophilic immobilized metal affinity chromatographic packings for HPLC have been synthesized by chemical modification of 3.0 µm monodisperse non‐porous poly(glycidyl methacrylate‐co‐ethylenedimethacrylate) (P_GMA/EDMA) beads. The retention behavior of proteins on the metal ion chelated columns loaded with copper(II), nickel(II) and zin(II) ion was studied. The effect of pH on the protein retention was investigated on both the naked and metal ion chelated columns in the range from 4.0 to 9.0. Four proteins were quickly separated in 3.0 min with linear gradient elution at a flow rate of 3.0 mL/min by using the synthesized Ni²⁺‐IDA (iminodiacetic acid) packings. The separation time was shorter than other immobilized metal affinity chromatography reported in the literature. Purification of lysozyme from egg white and trypsin on the commercially available trypsin was performed on the naked‐IDA and Cu²⁺‐IDA columns, respectively. The purities of the purified trypsin and lysozyme were more than 92% and 95%, respectively.     

Detection of irradiated food by the changes in protein molecular mass distribution

Protein constituents were extracted from chicken drumstick and chicken white meat, separated according to the molecular mass (Mm), using discontinuous SDS–polyacrylamide electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE) and quantified by scanning densitometry. The obtained profiles were compared with the profiles corresponding to the meat samples which were irradiated at −20, +4, and +20°c. It was observed that the irradiation of chicken white meat led to protein scission which was partially unselective (e.g. the amount of proteins whose Mm>20 kDa decreased, while the amount of those whose Mm<20 kDa increased), and partially selective (e.g. the appearance of Mm16 kDa fragment). In the case of chicken drumstick meat the irradiation caused both protein scission and protein cross-linking (unselective and selective, and appearance of 16 kDa fragment). However, in the case of aerated dehydrated egg white proteins, irradiation led only to unselective protein scission. The obtained results are discussed in view of possible application of discontinuous analytical SDS–PAGE combined with laser scanning densitometry for detection of previously irradiated foodstuff.