Calorimetric and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic study of solid proteins immersed in low water organic solvents.

Calorimetric heat effects and structural rearrangements assessed by means of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) amide I spectra were followed by immersing dry human serum albumin and bovine pancreatic alpha-chymotrypsin in low water organic solvents and in pure water at 298 K. Enthalpy changes upon immersion of the proteins in different media are in a good linear correlation with the corresponding IR absorbance changes. Based on calorimetric and FTIR data the solvents were divided into two groups. The first group includes carbon tetrachloride, benzene, nitromethane, acetonitrile, 1,4-dioxane, n-butanol, n-propanol and pyridine where no significant heat evolution and structural changes were found during protein immersion. Due to kinetic reasons no significant protein-solvent interactions are expected in such systems. The second group of solvents includes dimethyl sulfoxide, methanol, ethanol, and water. Immersion of proteins in these media results in protein swelling and involves significant exothermic heat evolution and structural changes in the protein. Dividing of different media in the two groups is in a qualitative correlation with the solvent hydrophilicity defined as partial excess molar Gibbs free energy of water at infinite dilution in a given solvent. The first group includes the solvents with hydrophilicity exceeding 2.7 kJ/mol. More hydrophilic second group solvents have this energy values less than 2.3 kJ/mol. The hydrogen bond donating ability of the solvents also assists in protein swelling. Hydrogen bonding between protein and solvent is assumed to be a main factor controlling the swelling of dry solid proteins in the studied solvents.

Effect of chain length on interactions of aliphatic alcohols with suspended human serum albumin.

Enthalpy changes on the immersion of human serum albumin (HSA) into n-butanol, n-propanol, ethanol and methanol containing different amounts of water have been measured calorimetrically at 25 degrees C. Water sorption isotherms on HSA were also determined in water-n-butanol and water-ethanol mixtures. From comparison of the calorimetric and sorption data, it was concluded that there is a significant enthalpy change on the HSA immersion into methanol and ethanol even under conditions where there is no change in the quantity of adsorbed water. No similar contribution was found in the n-butanol based suspensions. Water monolayer capacity evaluated from the Langmuir model decreases also significantly when going from ethanol to n-butanol. Considering this non water sorption contribution, values of the monolayer capacity and the shape of the experimental dependences, it was inferred that a relatively small change of the solvent molecule structure (from n-propanol to ethanol) affects strongly the interactions of the protein with the solvent.

Dynamics of active lamellae in cultured epithelial cells: effects of expression of exogenous N-ras oncogene.

We examined the functional consequences of cellular transformation of rat IAR-2 epithelial cells, by a mutant N-ras oncogene, on the dynamics of active lamellae, structures that play an important role in cell motility, adhesion, and surface-receptor capping. Lamellar activity was assessed by measuring the rate of outer-edge pseudopodial activity and by analyzing the motility of Con A-coated beads placed on lamellar surfaces with optical tweezers. Although transformation dramatically affected the shape and size of active cellular lamellae, there was little detectable effect on either pseudopodial activity or bead movement. To investigate the potential relationship between functional lamellar activity and the microtubule cytoskeleton, lamellar activity was examined in nontransformed and transformed cells treated with the microtubule-disrupting drug nocodazole. In the absence of microtubules, transformed cells were less polarized and possessed decreased rates of pseudopodial and bead motility. On the basis of these observations, it is suggested that ras-induced transformation of epithelial cells consists of two cytoskeletal modifications: overall diminished actin cytoskeletal dynamics in lamellae and reorganization of the microtubule cytoskeleton that directs pseudopodial activity to smaller polarized lamellae.