Fluorescence Quenching and Time-resolved Fluorescence studies of α-Mannosidase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus fischeri</Emphasis> (NCIM 508)

Apart from the vital role in glycoprotein biosynthesis and degradation, α-mannosidase is currently an important therapeutic target for the development of anticancer agents. Fluorescence quenching and time-resolved fluorescence of α-mannosidase, a multitryptophan protein from Aspergillus fischeri were carried out to investigate the tryptophan environment. The tryptophans were found to be differentially exposed to the solvent and were not fully accessible to the neutral quencher indicating heterogeneity in the environment. Quenching of the fluorescence by acrylamide was collisional. Surface tryptophans were found to have predominantly positively charged amino acids around them and differentially accessible to the ionic quenchers. Denaturation led to more exposure of tryptophans to the solvent and consequently in the significant increase in quenching with all the quenchers. The native enzyme showed two different lifetimes, τ ₁ (1.51 ns) and τ ₂ (5.99 ns). The average lifetime of the native protein (τ) (3.187 ns) was not affected much after denaturation (τ) (3.219 ns), while average lifetime of the quenched protein samples was drastically reduced (1.995 ns for acrylamide and 1.537 ns for iodide). This is an attempt towards the conformational studies of α-mannosidase.     

温度对牛胶原聚集态的影响

本研究采用酶解法制备了牛胶原。分别用粘度法、紫外分光光度计、红外光谱和原子力显微镜分析方法,考察了不同温度下胶原的物理化学特性。实验结果表明:粘度法和紫外分光光度计测定的胶原溶液的变性温度约为38℃;红外光谱测定表明,随着温度的提高,胶原膜在1650cm-1的吸收峰减弱;原子力显微镜实验表明了在40℃时牛胶原分子由螺旋结构的长链断裂为小链段和一些小碎片,说明此方法制备的胶原在40℃以上其三股螺旋结构将被破坏。     

Unfolding and Inactivation of Abalone (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Haliotis diversicolor</Emphasis>) Alkaline Phosphatase During Denaturation by Guanidine Hydrochloride

Abalone, a kind of low poikilothermic invertebrate, is easily exposed to ocean environment stress. Since it is one of the important mariculture animals, the attention paid to the abalone study becomes increasing. Alkaline phosphatase (ALPase, EC 3.1.3.1) is a kind of zinc-contained metalloenzyme, which catalyzes the nonspecific hydrolysis of phosphate monoesters. Unfolding and inactivation of ALPase from abalone (Haliotis diversicolor) during denaturation by guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl) of different concentrations has first been studied. The kinetic theory of the substrate reaction by enzyme was described by Tsou, which was applied to the study on ALPase’s kinetic course of inactivation by GuHCl. The result showed that the inactivation of the enzyme by GuHCl was a slow, reversible reaction with fractional remaining activity. The microscopic rate constants were determined. The result, , showed that the enzyme was protected by the substrate to a certain extent during guanidine denaturation. The changes of conformation of the enzyme in different concentrations of GuHCl have been studied by means of measuring the fluorescence spectra. The results showed that the inactivation occurred before the noticeable conformational changes of the enzyme molecule as a whole can be detected, which suggests that the active site of the enzyme has more flexibility than the whole enzyme molecule. These studies will facilitate the understanding of physiological and biochemical features of the H. diversicolor and will also help in the understanding of the abalone immune system.     

Structural changes in metallothionein isoforms revealed by capillary electrophoresis and Brdicka reaction

Metallothionein (MT) as a potential cancer marker is at the center of interest and its properties, functions and behavior under various conditions is intensively studied. In the present study, two major mammalian MT isoforms (MT‐1 and MT‐2) were separated using capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled with UV detector in order to describe their basic behavior. Under the optimized conditions, the separation of both isoforms was enabled as well as estimation of detection limits as subunits and units of ng per μL for MT‐2 and MT‐1, respectively. Further, the effects of thermal treatment and the presence of denaturing agent such as urea on MT‐1 and MT‐2 isoforms were studied by CE‐UV. Thermal treatment caused an increase in the signals of both isoforms. A new parameter called precipitation rate has been defined based on this finding. This parameter can be expressed as a slope of the linear regression of the time dependency curve recalculated on the MT concentration. The thermal precipitation rate for MT‐1 and MT‐2 was determined as 1.1 and 0.9 ng of MT/min, respectively. The chemical precipitation rate calculated from the linear regression for both isoforms provided the same value of 0.25 ng of MT/min. The results were confirmed by manual spectrometric measurements and by differential pulse voltammetry Brdicka reaction. Based on these results, a model of MT behavior under the conditions studied was suggested.     

Effects of heat on physicochemical properties of whey protein-stabilised emulsions

The effect of heating has been studied for whey protein-stabilised oil-in-water emulsions (25.0% (w/w) soybean oil, 3.0% (w/w) whey protein isolate, pH 7.0). These emulsions were heated between 55 and 95 °C as a function of time and the effect on particle size distribution, adsorbed protein amount, protein conformation and rheological properties was determined. Heating the emulsions as a function of temperature for 25 min resulted in an increase of the mean diameter (d₃₂) and shear viscosity with a maximum at 75 °C. Heating of the emulsions at different temperatures as a function of time in all cases resulted in a curve with a maximum for d₃₂. A maximum increase of d₃₂ was observed after about 45 min at 75 °C and after 6–8 min at 90 °C. Similar trends were observed with viscosity measurements. Confocal scanning laser micrographs showed that after 8 min of heating at 90 °C large, loose aggregates of oil droplets were formed, while after 20 min of heating compact aggregates of two or three emulsion droplets remained. An increase of the adsorbed amount of protein was found with increasing heating temperature. Plateau values were reached after 10 min of heating at 75 °C and after 5 min of heating at 90 °C. Based on these results we concluded that in the whole process of aggregation of whey protein-stabilised emulsions an essential role is played by the non-adsorbed protein fraction, that the kinetics of the aggregation of whey protein-stabilised emulsions follow similar trends as those for heated whey protein solutions and that upon prolonged heating rearrangements take place leading to deaggregation of initially formed large, loose aggregates of emulsion droplets into smaller, more compact ones.     

盐酸胍/Ⅰ型胶原分散体系的流变性

采用胃蛋白酶降解法从猪皮中提取了胶原蛋白, 用十二烷基硫酸钠-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳(SDS-PAGE)确定为Ⅰ型胶原; 红外及紫外光谱表明胶原分子中存在三螺旋结构. 分别采用小幅振荡剪切法、 恒定剪切速率法及滞后环法研究了盐酸胍浓度及作用时间对Ⅰ型胶原蛋白体系流变性的影响. 研究表明, 随盐酸胍浓度的增大及作用时间的延长, 盐酸胍/胶原分散体系由假塑性流体逐渐接近于牛顿流体. 在所研究的盐酸胍浓度范围(0~6.0 mol/L)内, 盐酸胍/胶原分散体系的触变性类型随盐酸胍浓度的增大发生正触变性-复合触变性-负触变性的转变; 随盐酸胍作用时间的延长(6~48 h), 盐酸胍浓度为1.0 mol/L的胶原分散体系的触变性类型发生复合触变性-负触变性的转变. 本文的研究结果有助于加深对触变性产生机理的认识.     

FTIR用于变性蛋白质二级结构的研究进展

蛋白质是最重要的生命物质之一,有关蛋白质的各类研究也是人们比较感兴趣的课题。蛋白质的二级结构在维持蛋白质生理活性过程中发挥着重要的作用。随着科技的发展和研究方法的改进,对变性蛋白质微观结构的研究也越来越深入。近年来,国内外学者利用各种物理和化学方法对其作了大量的工作,而傅里叶红外光谱法(FTIR)以其独特的优越性,在研究蛋白质二级结构中发挥着不可替代的作用。文章就这方面的研究进行了初步概述,重点介绍了变性蛋白质二级结构的红外光谱学研究内容、谱学特点及其分析方法的研究进展。