New methods for data analysis of isothermal titration calorimetry

Heat divided by ligand concentration vs. heat, similar to the Scatchard plot, was introduced to obtain the equilibrium constant (K) and the enthalpy of binding (DH) using isothermal titration calorimetry data. Values of K and DH obtained by this linear pseudo-Scatchard plot for a system with a set of independent binding sites (such as binding fluoride ions on urease and monosaccharide methyl a-D-mannopyranoside on concavalin A) were remarkably like that obtained from a normal fitting Wiseman method and other our technical methods. On applying this graphical method to study the binding of copper ion on myelin basic protein (MBP), a concave downward curve obtained was consistent with the positive cooperativity in the binding. A graphical fitting by simple method for determination of thermodynamic parameters was also introduced. This method is general, without any assumption and restriction made in previous method. This general method was applied to the product inhibition study of adenosine deaminase. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Application of a new method for data analysis of isothermal titration calorimetry in the interaction between human serum albumin and Ni

The interaction of human serum albumin (HAS) with divalent nickel ion was studied by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) in 30 mM Tris buffer, pH 7.0. There is a set of eight identical and independent binding sites for nickel ions on the protein at the temperature of 300 K. A new calorimetric data analysis allows the determination of the complete set of thermodynamic parameters. The binding isotherm for nickel-HSA interaction is easily obtained by carrying out two different ITC experiments. In the first experiment, the enthalpy of binding for one mole of nickel ion to one mole of binding site on HSA (ΔH=−36.5 kJ) is obtained, and is used in a second experiment to determine the binding isotherm and to find the number of binding sites (g=8) and the equilibrium constant (K=0.57 μM⁻¹).     

Binding isotherm determination by isothermal titration calorimetry

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - A simple method for determination of binding isotherm in the protein-ligand interaction was introduced using isothermal titration calorimetric data....     

Strategies for assessing proton linkage to bimolecular interactions by global analysis of isothermal titration calorimetry data

Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is a traditional and powerful method for studying the linkage of ligand binding to proton uptake or release. The theoretical framework has been developed for more than two decades and numerous applications have appeared. In the current work, we explored strategic aspects of experimental design. To this end, we simulated families of ITC data sets that embed different strategies with regard to the number of experiments, range of experimental pH, buffer ionization enthalpy, and temperature. We then re-analyzed the families of data sets in the context of global analysis, employing a proton linkage binding model implemented in the global data analysis platform SEDPHAT, and examined the information content of all data sets by a detailed statistical error analysis of the parameter estimates. In particular, we studied the impact of different assumptions about the knowledge of the exact concentrations of the components, which in practice presents an experimental limitation for many systems. For example, the uncertainty in concentration may reflect imperfectly known extinction coefficients and stock concentrations or may account for different extents of partial inactivation when working with proteins at different pH values. Our results show that the global analysis can yield reliable estimates of the thermodynamic parameters for intrinsic binding and protonation, and that in the context of the global analysis the exact molecular component concentrations may not be required. Additionally, a comparison of data from different experimental strategies illustrates the benefit of conducting experiments at a range of temperatures.     

A thermodynamic study on the interaction of nickel ion with myelin basic protein by isothermal titration calorimetry

The interaction of myelin basic protein (MBP) from the bovine central nervous system with divalent nickel ion was studied by isothermal titration calorimetry at 37 and 47 °C in Tris buffer solution at pH = 7. The new solvation model was used to reproduce the heats of MBP + Ni²⁺ interaction over the whole Ni²⁺ concentrations. It was found that MBP has three identical and independent binding sites for Ni²⁺ ions. The intrinsic dissociation equilibrium constant and the molar enthalpy of binding are 89.953 μM, −14.403 kJ mol⁻¹ and 106.978 μM, −14.026 kJ mol⁻¹ at 37 and 47 °C, respectively. The binding parameters recovered from the new solvation model were correlated to the structural changes of MBP due to its interaction with nickel ion interaction. It was found that in the low and high concentrations of the nickel ions, the MBP structure was destabilized.     

Determination of thermodynamic parameters of Xerocomus chrysenteron lectin interactions with N-acetylgalactosamine and Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen by isothermal titration calorimetry

Background  

Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins which potentially bind to cell surface glycoconjugates. They are found in various organisms including fungi. A lectin from the mushroom Xerocomus chrysenteron (XCL) has been isolated recently. It shows insecticidal activity and has antiproliferative properties.     

Nucleotide coordination with 14 lanthanides studied by isothermal titration calorimetry

ITC reveals the increasingly importance of entropy for heavier lanthanides binding to nucleotides. The phosphate group forming chelating effect with purine bases but not with pyrimidines.     

Remarks on the relationship between isothermal and non-isothermal kinetic results. A new method for the kinetic analysis of isothermal data

Addition of 10mg/l of the haevy metal ions Zn⁺⁺, Cu⁺⁺, Pb⁺⁺, Cd⁺⁺ and Cr⁺⁺ to nongrowing E.coli cells shows a decrease in heat production by aerobic and anaerobic glycolysis up to 80 %. The heat production of cells incubated without glucose was decreased drastically too, after addition of 10mg/l of these heavy metal ions.The pattern of heat released during active transport of α MG was influenced by these haevy metal ions in a way, that there was a decrease in maximum heat flow, whereas the total heat production seemed to be constant.After increasing the metal ion concentration up to 100mg/l no endogenous heat production could be detected. The inhibition of heat production after addition of glucose was higher than 90 % in this case and there was a strong inhibition in α MG uptake.The results of these investigations indicate that the basic action of all tested metal ions is the energy metabolism and not the transport as stated earlier.     

Isothermal titration calorimetry: A thermodynamic interpretation of measurements

Isothermal titration calorimeters have been developed and in use since the 1960s and the number of applications based on empirical rules to use them steadily increases. In this paper a rigorous study of the physical interpretation of the titration heat and the thermodynamic framework underlying isothermal titration calorimetry are proposed. For infinitesimal titrations, the titration heat is independent of the cell type employed, and the interpretation of the titration heat depends on the titrant composition and on the experiment type. Moreover, for the study of the interaction between two solutes in solution, only a combination of two experiments is necessary, and the result is interpreted as the partial enthalpy of interaction at infinite dilution of the solute contained in the titrant solution.     

Dissecting the cholera toxin-ganglioside GM1 interaction by isothermal titration calorimetry

The complex of cholera toxin and ganglioside GM1 is one of the highest affinity protein-carbohydrate interactions known. Herein, the GM1 pentasaccharide is dissected into smaller fragments to determine the contribution of each of the key monosaccharide residues to the overall binding affinity. Displacement isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) has allowed the measurement of all of the key thermodynamic parameters for even the lowest affinity fragment ligands. Analysis of the standard free energy changes using Jencks' concept of intrinsic free energies reveals that the terminal galactose and sialic acid residues contribute 54% and 44% of the intrinsic binding energy, respectively, despite the latter ligand having little appreciable affinity for the toxin. This analysis also provides an estimate of 25.8 kJ mol(-1) for the loss of independent translational and rotational degrees of freedom on complexation and presents evidence for an alternative binding mode for ganglioside GM2. The high affinity and selectivity of the GM1-cholera toxin interaction originates principally from the conformational preorganization of the branched pentasaccharide rather than through the effect of cooperativity, which is also reinvestigated by ITC.     

A review on the ligand binding studies by isothermal titration calorimetry

Thermodynamics of biomacromolecule ligand interaction is very important to understand the structure function relationship in proteins. One of the most powerful techniques useful to obtain additional information about the structure of proteins in biophysical chemistry field is isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). An ITC experiment is a titration of a biomacromolecule solution by a solution containing a reactant (ligand) at constant temperature to obtain the exchanged heat of the reaction. The total concentration of ligand is the independent variable under experimental control. There are many reports on data analysis for ITC to find the number of binding sites (g), the equilibrium constant (K), the Gibbs free energy of binding process (ΔG), the enthalpy of binding (ΔH) and the entropy of binding (ΔS). Moreover, ITC gives information about the type of reaction, electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions, including determination of cooperativity characterization in binding process by calculating the Hill coefficient (n). A double reciprocal plot and a graphical fitting method are two simple methods used in the enzyme inhibition and metal binding to a protein. Determination of a binding isotherm needs more ITC experiments and more complex data analysis. Protein denaturation by ligand includes two processes of binding and denaturation so that ITC data analysis are more complex. However, the enthalpy of denaturation process obtained by ITC help to understand the fine structure of a protein.     

Optimizing experimental parameters in isothermal titration calorimetry: variable volume procedures

In the study of 1:1 binding, M + X right <==> MX, isothermal titration calorimetry is generally thought to be limited to reactions in which the key parameter, c = K[M]0, can be set in the range 1-1000. In fact, the range of applicability can be extended by a factor of 10-100 at the upper end and as much as 10(5) at the lower, with certain provisos. The present work emphasizes the low-c regime, with the key heat parameter, h identical with DeltaH degrees [M]0, low, as well. Successful determination of K and DeltaH degrees in this region requires that the titration be extended to large excesses of titrant X over titrate M, and then the reaction heat is distributed strongly in favor of the early injections. With decreasing c, DeltaH degrees and the stoichiometry parameter n (often called site number) also become highly correlated and individually indeterminate. However, the product DeltaH degrees x n ( identical with Hn) is well-determined, so if n is known from other information, both K and DeltaH degrees can be determined to quite low c. By varying the titrant volume from injection to injection, one can significantly reduce the uncertainties in the estimated K and Hn values, permitting determination of K to better than 10% and Hn within 3% down to c = 10(-4), even for the low h value of 0.1 cal/L. The titrant volume optimization algorithm yields best results for the minimal number of injections - three when n is fitted, two when it is fixed. At low c, the resulting volume distributions depend nearly exponentially on injection number. This observation facilitates the derivation of similar, near-optimal volume distributions for five- and four-injection procedures that offer two statistical degrees of freedom for analysis. The volume optimization results are tested on the Ba2+/18-crown-6 ether complexation reaction at c = 0.1 and h = 0.16 cal/L, illustrating some practical complications but confirming the utility of the variable-volume protocol.     

Enzyme assay for chitinase catalyzed hydrolysis of tetra-N-acetylchitotetraose by isothermal titration calorimetry

Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) has been used to observe the chitinase-catalyzed hydrolysis of tetra-N-acetylchitotetraose. Enzymatic hydrolysis of tetra-N-acetylchitotetraose by chitinase B from Serratia marcescens produces exclusively two molecules of di-N-acetylchitobiose allowing for the determination of a single glycosidic bond hydrolysis heat that was used to monitor the rate of the enzymatic reaction. The change in heat rate with respect to time (dQ/dt) was translated to the reaction rate, and the total heat produced was related to substrate concentration throughout the reaction. Reaction rates versus substrates concentration were fit to Michaelis-Menten plots, yielding a k_cat of 40.9 ± 0.5 s⁻¹ and a K_m of 54 ± 2 μM.     

Monitoring lipid membrane translocation of sodium dodecyl sulfate by isothermal titration calorimetry

We establish high-sensitivity isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) as a fast, reliable, and versatile tool for assessing membrane translocation of charged compounds. A combination of ITC uptake and release titrations can discriminate between the two extreme cases of half-sided binding and complete transbilayer equilibration on the experimental time scale. To this end, we derive a general fit function for both assays that allows for incorporation of different membrane partitioning models. Electrostatic effects are taken into account with the aid of Gouy-Chapman theory, thus rendering uptake and release experiments amenable to the investigation of charged solutes. This is exemplified for the flip-flop of the anionic detergent sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) across the membranes of 100-nm-diameter unilamellar vesicles composed of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) in aqueous solution (10 mM phosphate buffer, 154 mM NaCl, pH 7.4). If repulsive electrostatic forces are accounted for adequately, SDS binding to POPC membranes can be evaluated on the basis of ideal mixing in all phases. At 25 degrees C, the intrinsic partition coefficient between the interfacial aqueous phase and the membrane amounts to 3.5 x 10(6); however, detergent flip-flop is negligibly slow under these conditions. Raising the temperature to 65 degrees C lowers the intrinsic partition coefficient to 1.4 x 10(6) but enables rapid transbilayer distribution of the detergent and, therefore, binding to or desorption from both membrane leaflets. Thus, combining a surface partition equilibrium with simple electrostatic theory appears highly useful in monitoring transmembrane movement of ionic compounds by ITC, thereby eliminating the need for specific reporter groups.     

A general iterative method for obtaining kinetic parameters from TG data

An iterative method is described for determining the reaction order and activation energy from TG curves. The method makes use of equations to represent the temperature integrals which are derived using numerical relationships in terms of E, T, and empirical constants. Like the method of Reich and Stivala, the computation involves varying the value of n until the appropriate linear relationship gives an intercept of zero. The slope of the line is YE^x, where Y and X are constants in the equation -log I = YE^x(1/T) +log E^w+ U The method is tested using data obtained by means of a fourth order Runge-Kutta solution of the rate law for both Arrhenius and non-Arrhenius cases.     

Applications of isothermal titration calorimetry in protein folding and molecular recognition

During the past decade, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) has developed from a specialist method to a major, commercially available tool in the arsenal directed at understanding molecular interactions. At present, ITC is used to study all types of binding reactions, including protein-protein, protein-ligand, DNA-drug, DNA-protein, receptor-target, and enzyme kinetics, and it is becoming the method of choice for the determination of the thermodynamic parameters associated with the structure transformation of one molecule or non-covalent interaction of two (or more) molecules. Here, the new applications of ITC in protein folding/unfolding and misfolding, as well as its traditional application in molecular interaction/recognition are reviewed, providing an overview of what can be achieved in these fields using this method and what developments are likely to occur in the near future.     

Hydrophobic interaction chromatography of proteins: Studies of unfolding upon adsorption by isothermal titration calorimetry

Heat of adsorption is an excellent measure for adsorption strength and, therefore, very useful to study the influence of salt and temperature in hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The adsorption of bovine serum albumin and β‐lactoglobulin to Toyopearl Butyl‐650 M was studied with isothermal titration calorimetry to follow the unfolding of proteins on hydrophobic surfaces. Isothermal titration calorimetry is established as an experimental method to track conformational changes of proteins on stationary phases. Experiments were carried out at two different salt concentrations and five different temperatures. Protein unfolding, as indicated by large changes of molar enthalpy of adsorption Δh_ads, was observed to be dependent on temperature and salt concentration. Δh_ads were significantly higher for bovine serum albumin and ranged from 578 (288 K) to 811 (308 K) kJ/mol for 1.2 mol/kg ammonium sulfate. Δh_ads for β‐lactoglobulin ranged from 129 kJ/mol (288 K) to 186 kJ/mol (308 K). For both proteins, Δh_ads increased with increasing temperature. The influence of salt concentration on Δh_ads was also more pronounced for bovine serum albumin than for β‐lactoglobulin. The comparison of retention analysis evaluated by the van't Hoff algorithm shows that beyond adsorption other processes occur simultaneously. Further interpretation such as unfolding upon adsorption needs other in situ techniques.     

Investigation of copper(II) complexation by glycylglycine using isothermal titration calorimetry

Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and potentiometric titration methods have been used to study the process of proton transfer in the copper(II) ion-glycylglycine reaction. The stoichiometry, conditional stability constants, and thermodynamic parameters (ΔG, ΔH, and ΔS) for the complexation reaction were determined using the ITC method. The measurements were carried out at 298.15 K in solutions with a pH of 6 and the ionic strength maintained with 100 mM NaClO₄. Carrying out the measurements in buffer solutions of equal pH but different enthalpies of ionization of its components (Mes, Pipes, Cacodylate) enabled determination of the enthalpy of complex formation, independent of the enthalpy of buffer ionization. The number of protons released by glycylglycine on account of complexation of the copper(II) ions was determined from calorimetric and potentiometric measurements.