Michael Bloemendal

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry of transferrins : human serum transferrin, rabbit serum transferrin and human lactoferrin

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) have been used to investigate the solution structure and thermal stability of human serum transferrin (HST), human lactoferrin (HLF) and rabbit serum transferrin (RST) in their diferric and apo forms. Our study shows that: (A) The secondary structure of all the proteins studied (estimated in H2O) was in the range 43-53% alpha-helix and 23-28% beta-sheet. These values differ markedly from previously reported circular dichroism (CD) data. This is attributed to the fact that FTIR and CD measure different aspects of secondary structure (hydrogen bonding and dihedral angles, respectively). (B) The secondary structural content of the proteins is not altered by iron binding or release. However, the iron-free proteins undergo a greater extent of 1H-2H exchange than the diferric proteins indicating that significant structural changes do occur upon iron binding/release

Interactions between terminally substituted amino acids in an aqueous and a non-aqueous environment. Enthalpic interaction coefficients in water and in N,N-dimethylformamide at 25°C

Enthalpies of dilution of the N-acetyl amides of glycine, L-alanine, L-valine, L-leucine, and L-phenylalanine, dissolved in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as a solvent have been measured at 25°C. The results obtained have been analyzed to give the enthalpic interaction (or virial) coefficients of the solutes and these are compared with information previously obtained in aqueous systems. There are marked differences in the interaction properties in the two solvents and, while the additivity approach of Savage and Wood is applicable to the solutes in water it is not suitable for representing the interactions in DMF. A correlation is presented between the enthalpic second virial coefficients in DMF and the propensity of side-chains to be in proximity in globular proteins.

Solute-solute interactions in non-aqueous solvents. Enthalpic interaction coefficients of substituted acetamides dissolved in N,N-dimethylformamide

Enthalpies of dilution of acetamide, N-methylacetamide, N-ethylacetamide, N-propylacetamide, N-butylacetamide, N,N-dimethylacetamide, N,N-diethylacetamide, N,N-dipropylacetamide and N,N-dibutylacetamide dissolved in N,N-dimethylformamide as solvent have been measured calorimetrically at 25°C. The results are interpreted in terms of the McMillan-Mayer theory. The enthalpic interaction parameters are obtained for pairs, triplets and some quadruplets of solute molecules. All enthalpic pair interaction coefficients but one in this non-aqueous solvent are negative, whereas the triplet coefficients are positive. The concept of ‘solvophobic interaction’ can be used to explain these results in connection with the assumption of the formation of solute-solvent associates. The enthalpic pair interaction coefficients can be described by the additivity approach of Savage and Wood.

Structural Information on Proteins from Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy Possibilities and Limitations

In this chapter we give a general survey of the application of circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy for structural studies of proteins. In addition to the commonly used far-UV and near-UV/visible CD, the less well-known vibrational CD will be discussed. Although magnetic CD (MCD) has a fundamentally different origin and is beyond the scope of this chapter, some theoretical and experimental considerations will be given in Section 2. For a detailed treatise, we refer the reader to Sutherland and Holmqvist (1980), Sharonov (1991), and Cheesman et al. (1991). Time-resolved CD is discussed briefly in Section 6.

BOVINE LENS CRYSTALLINS DO CONTAIN HELICAL STRUCTURE : A CIRCULAR DICHROISM STUDY

In order to settle a recent discussion on the secondary structure of lens crystallins, we have measured the circular dichroism (CD) spectra of alpha-, beta(H)-, and beta(L)-crystallin from 178 to 250 nm and of gamma-crystallin from 168 to 250 nm. The results were analysed by means of a newly developed algorithm that almost doubles the reliability of secondary structure prediction and that allows discrimination between alpha- and 3(10)-helical, and between extended and polyproline beta-type structure. The results indicate that the crystallins studied contain a non-negligible amount of alpha-helical structure, although at least 50% of it is in the form of single and/or distorted loops. In alpha-crystallin, which is related to the chaperones, the helical content is lower than in beta- and gamma-crystallin. In some cases, the helices may play a role in DNA binding by the crystallins.

Enthalpic interaction coefficients of amides dissolved in N,N-dimethylformamide

Enthalpies of dilution of propionamide, butyramide, pentanamide, hexanamide, N-pentylacetamide, N,N-dipentylacetamide, N-ethylhexanamide and N,N-diethylhexanamide dissolved in N,N-dimethylformamide as solvent have been measured calorimetrically at 25°C. The results are interpreted in terms of the McMillan-Mayer theory. Enthalpic interaction parameters are obtained for pairs, triplets and some quadruplets of solute molecules. All enthalpic pair interaction coefficients are negative, whereas those for triplets are positive. For unsubstituted amides the change of the enthalpic coefficients with the number of C-atoms differs considerably from that of the substituted compounds. The concept of polarophobic interaction is used for the interpretation of the results in connection with the assumption of formation of solute-solvent associates. For solutes with longer alkyl chains the results cannot be described satisfactorily in terms of the additivity approach of Savage and Wood. Probably the pair interactions of these compounds are not the result of interaction in a random way. Also the linear dependence of the pair interaction coefficients of the larger molecules with the number of C-atoms and the results for the unsubstituted amides support the occurrence of preferential orientations for these compounds.

Alpha-crystallin exists in a non-spherical form. A study on the rotational properties of native and reconstituted alpha-crystallin.

Native alpha-crystallin, obtained from the cortex of calf lenses with FPLC (Pharmacia) was characterized by means of transient-electric-birefringence measurements and ultraviolet linear-dichroism spectroscopy. These techniques were also performed on 6-M-urea-dissociated and reconstituted alpha-crystallin. Transient-electric-birefringence measurements offer the possibility to characterize the often observed, but usually neglected, non-spherical occurrences of alpha-crystallin in more detail. Although not distinguishable with size-exclusion chromatography, we could identify at least two different classes of both native and reconstituted alpha-crystallin, from which at least one consists of non-spherical molecules. The results are compared with those obtained with electron microscopy using different staining methods. From the three independent techniques used we find evidence that a fraction of the alpha-crystallin exists in a more extended quaternary structure. The results are difficult to explain with a concentric three-layer model for alpha-crystallin as proposed by Tardieu et al. [Tardieu, A., Laporte, D., Licinio, P., Krop, B. & Delaye, M. (1986) J. Mol. Biol. 192, 711-724].

The assembly state of the intermediate filament proteins desmin and glial fibrillary acidic protein at low ionic strength

The low ionic strength structures of the type III intermediate filament (IF) proteins desmin and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) have been studied by transient electric birefringence measurements. Flexible dimers with a length of around 45 nm, particles with a length of 68 ± 6 nm (presumably tetramers and hexamers) and larger aggregates of 108 ± 19 nm are found. GFAP has an increased tendency to aggregate upon lowering of the pH. The aggregation state of desmin does not change in the pH range studied. The results are compared with previous results on vimentin.

Linear-dichroism spectroscopy for the study of structural properties of proteins

This review gives an experiment directed survey of the application of linear-dichroism (LD) spectroscopy to the study of proteins. LD spectroscopy is a relatively simple technique that provides information on the orientation of chromophores in molecules, on molecular characteristies such as shape, size and electronic properties, and on binding parameters in molecular complexes. Since LD is only observed when the molecules are non-randomly oriented in the sample, particular attention is paid to various orientation techniques, viz. in electric and flow fields, in polymer films and gels, and by light induction (photoselection). Examples are given on bacteriorhodopsin and retinals, chlorosomes, lens crystallins, aspartate aminotransferase, and the interaction of gene32-and recA-protein with DNA.

Simultaneous measurement of electric birefringence and dichroism. A study on photosystem 1 particles

We have developed a straightforward method to separate linear-dichroism and birefringence contributions to electric-field induced signals in a conventional birefringence setup. The method requires the measurement of electric birefringence for three different angular positions of the analyzer. It is demonstrated that the presence of linear dichroism can significantly influence the measured signals and lead to completely erroneous calculations of the birefringence signal and field-free decay times if its contribution is not taken into account. The new method is used to determine electric birefringence and linear dichroism of trimeric Photosystem 1 complexes from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803 in the detergents n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside and n-octyl-beta-D-glucoside. It is concluded that the orientation of the particles in the field is predominantly caused by a permanent electric dipole moment that is directed parallel to the symmetry axis of the particles. Comparison of the decay times obtained with dodecylmaltoside and octylglucoside supports a model in which the thickness of the disc-like complexes remains similar (7-8 nm) upon replacing dodecylmaltoside by octylglucoside, whereas the diameter increases from 14.4 +/- 0.2 to 16.6 +/- 0.2 nm because of an increased thickness of the detergent layer. This change in diameter is in good agreement with electron-microscopy results on Photosystem 2 complexes in dodecylmaltoside and octylglucoside (Dekker, J. P., E. J. Boekema, H. T. Witt, and M. Rögner. 1988. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 936:307-318). The value of approximately 16.6 nm for the diameter of Photosystem 1 trimers in dodecylmaltoside is in good agreement with recent results obtained from electron microscopy in combination with extensive image analysis (Kruip, J., E. J. Boekema, D. Bald, A. F. Boonstra, and M. Rögner. 1993. J. Biol. Chem. 268:23353-23360).