Michael H. Simonian

Spectrophotometric and Colorimetric Determination of Protein Concentration

This unit describes spectrophotometric and colorimetric methods for measuring the concentration of a sample protein in solution. Absorbance measurement at 280 nm is used to calculate protein concentration by comparison with a standard curve or published absorptivity values for that protein. An alternate protocol uses absorbance at 205 nm to calculate the protein concentration. Both methods can be used to quantitate total protein in crude lysates and purified or partially purified protein. Use of a spectrofluorometer or a filter fluorometer to measure the intrinsic fluorescence emission of a sample solution is also described. The measurement is compared with the emissions from standard solutions to determine the concentration of purified protein. The Bradford colorimetric method, based upon binding of the dye Coomassie brilliant blue to an unknown protein, is also presented, as is the Lowry method, which measures colorimetric reaction of tyrosyl residues in an unknown.

Spectrophotometric Determination of Protein Concentration

This unit describes spectrophotometric and colorimetric methods for measuring the concentration of a sample protein in solution. Absorbance measured at 280 nm (A280) is used to calculate protein concentration by comparison with a standard curve or published absorptivity values for that protein (a280). Alternatively, absorbance measured at 205 nm (A205) is used to calculate the protein concentration. The A280 and A205 methods can be used to quantify total protein in crude lysates and purified or partially purified protein. A spectrofluorometer or a filter fluorometer can be used to measure the intrinsic fluorescence emission of a sample solution; this value is compared with the emissions from standard solutions to determine the sample concentration. The fluorescence emission method is used to quantify purified protein. This simple method is useful for dilute protein samples and can be completed in a short amount of time. There are two colorimetric methods: the Bradford colorimetric method, based upon binding of the dye Coomassie brilliant blue to the protein of interest, and the Lowry method, which measures colorimetric reaction of tyrosyl residues in the protein sample.

Proteome-level display by 2-dimensional chromatography of extracellular matrix-dependent modulation of the phenotype of bladder cancer cells

BackgroundThe extracellular matrix can have a profound effect upon the phenotype of cancer cells. Previous work has shown that growth of bladder cancer cells on a matrix derived from normal basement membrane suppresses many malignant features that are displayed when the cells are grown on a matrix that has been modified by malignant tumors. This work was undertaken to investigate proteome-level changes as determined by a new commercially available proteome display involving 2-dimensional chromatography for bladder cancer cells grown on different extracellular matrix preparations that modulate the expression of the malignant phenotype.ResultsDepending on the matrix, between 1300 and 2000 distinct peaks were detected by two-dimensional chromatographic fractionation of 2.1 – 4.4 mg of total cellular protein. The fractions eluting from the reversed-phase fractionation were suitable for mass spectrometric identification following only lyophilization and trypsin digestion and achieved approximately 10-fold higher sensitivity than was obtained with gel-based separations. Abundant proteins that were unique to cells grown on one of the matrices were identified by mass spectrometry. Following concentration, peaks of 0.03 AU provided unambiguous identification of protein components when 10% of the sample was analyzed, whereas peaks of 0.05 AU was approximately the lower limit of detection when the entire sample was separated on a gel and in-gel digestion was used. Although some fractions were homogeneous, others were not, and up to 3 proteins per fraction were identified. Strong evidence for post-translational modification of the unique proteins was noted. All 13 of the unique proteins from cells grown on Matrigel were related to MYC pathway.ConclusionThe system provides a viable alternative to 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis for proteomic display of biological systems. The findings suggest the importance of MYC to the malignant phenotype of bladder cancer cells.

Spectrophotometric determination of protein concentration.

This unit describes spectrophotometric and colorimetric methods for measuring the concentration of a sample protein in solution. Absorbance measured at 280 nm (A280) is used to calculate protein concentration by comparison with a standard curve or published absorptivity values for that protein (a280). Alternatively, absorbance measured at 205 nm (A205) is used to calculate the protein concentration. The A280 and A205 methods can be used to quantify total protein in crude lysates and purified or partially purified protein. A spectrofluorometer or a filter fluorometer can be used to measure the intrinsic fluorescence emission of a sample solution; this value is compared with the emissions from standard solutions to determine the sample concentration. The fluorescence emission method is used to quantify purified protein. This simple method is useful for dilute protein samples and can be completed in a short amount of time. There are two colorimetric methods: the Bradford colorimetric method, based upon binding of the dye Coomassie brilliant blue to the protein of interest, and the Lowry method, which measures colorimetric reaction of tyrosyl residues in the protein sample.

APPENDIX 3G Spectrophotometric and Colorimetric Determination of Protein Concentration

Spectrophotometric and Colorimetric Determination of Protein Concentration (Michael H. Simonian, Beckman‐Coulter, Inc., Fullerton, California, and John A. Smith, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama). Measuring absorbance at 280 nm (A280) is one of the oldest methods for determining protein concentration. This method is still widely used because it is simple and does not require incubating the sample with exogenous chromophores. Accordingly, the quantitation of proteins by peptide bond absorption at 205 nm (A205) is more universally applicable. Furthermore, the absorptivity for a given protein at 205 nm is several‐fold greater than that at 280 nm. Thus, lower concentrations of protein can be quantitated with the A205 method. The disadvantage of this method is that some buffers and other components absorb at 205 nm. The aromatic amino acids also exhibit fluorescence emissions when excited by light in the UV range. Measurement of intrinsic fluorescence by aromatic amino acids is primarily used to obtain qualitative information. However, with a protein standard whose aromatic amino acid content is similar to that of the sample, intrinsic fluorescence can be used for quantitation. The most frequently employed colorimetric methods for determining protein concentration are those of Bradford and Lowry.

UNIT 10.1A Spectrophotometric and Colorimetric Determination of Protein Concentration

This unit describes spectrophotometric and colorimetric methods for measuring the concentration of a sample protein in solution. Absorbance measurement at 280 nm is used to calculate protein concentration by comparison with a standard curve or published absorptivity values for that protein. An alternate protocol uses absorbance at 205 nm to calculate the protein concentration. Both methods can be used to quantitate total protein in crude lysates and purified or partially purified protein. Use of a spectrofluorometer or a filter fluorometer to measure the intrinsic fluorescence emission of a sample solution is also described. The measurement is compared with the emissions from standard solutions to determine the concentration of purified protein. The Bradford colorimetric method, based upon binding of the dye Coomassie brilliant blue to an unknown protein, is also presented, as is the Lowry method, which measures colorimetric reaction of tyrosyl residues in an unknown.