Effects of micelles and vesicles on the oximolysis of p-nitrophenyl diphenyl phosphate: A model system for surfactant-based skin-defensive formulations against organophosphates.

The rates of oximolysis of p-nitrophenyl diphenyl phosphate (PNPDPP) by Acetophenoxime; 10-phenyl-10-hydroxyiminodecanoic acid; 4-(9-carboxynonanyl)-1-(9-carboxy-1-hydroyiminononanyl) benzene; 1-dodecyl-2-[(hydroxyimino)methyl]-pyridinium chloride (IV) and N-methylpyridinium-2-aldoxime chloride were determined in micelles of N-hexadecyl-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride (CTAC), N-hexadecyl-N,N-dimethylammonium propanesulfonate and dioctadecyldimethylammonium chloride (DODAC) vesicles. The effects of CTAC micelles and DODAC vesicles on the rates of oxymolysis of O,O-Diethyl O-(4-nitrophenyl) phosphate (paraoxon) by oxime IV were also determined. Analysis of micellar and vesicular effects on oximolysis of PNPDPP, using pseudophase or pseudophase with explicit consideration of ion exchange models, required the determination of the aggregate's effects on the pK(a) of oximes and on the rates of PNPDPP hydrolysis. All aggregates increased the rate of oximolysis of PNPDPP and the results were analyzed quantitatively. In particular, DODAC vesicles catalyzed the reaction and increased the rate of oximolysis of PNPDPP by IV several million fold at pH's compatible with pharmaceutical formulations. The rate increase produced by DODAC vesicles on the rate of oximolysis paraoxon by IV demonstrates the pharmaceutical potential of this system, since the substrate is used as an agricultural defensive agent and the surfactant is extensively employed in cosmetic formulations.

Sodium dodecyl sulfate promoting a cooperative association process of sodium cholate with bovine serum albumin.

Sodium cholate (NaC) was used as a representative bile salt in the process of cooperative binding to bovine serum albumin (BSA) in a mixture with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The experiments were performed in 0.02 M Tris-HCl buffer solution (pH 7.50), in the presence of 0.1% BSA and at 25 degrees C. The aim of this study is to provide information on the performance of the BSA in the promotion of cooperative binding of sodium cholate promoted by the presence of SDS. The method used to monitor the binding was based on the analysis of the effect of SDS and NaC concentrations and their mixtures upon the fluorescence intensity of the BSA tryptophan residues. Plots of the fluorescence emission bands in terms of the A0/A ratio vs surfactant concentrations, where A0 and A represent the areas of emission bands in the presence and absence of the surfactants, respectively, were drawn in order to investigate the surfactant interaction with the protein. An alternative methodology, the specific conductivity vs surfactant concentration plots, was used, which involves mixtures of SDS and NaC to investigate the association processes, through the determination of the critical aggregation concentration (cac, when in the presence of protein) and the critical micellar concentration (cmc). The results led to a general conclusion that as the mixed micellar aggregates become richer in the bile salt monomer, the tendency to lose the reactivity with the protein increases. According to our results, a clear evidence of the predomination of BSA-SDS-NaC complexes is found only for the SDS molar fraction above approximately 0.6, and below this fraction a tendency toward free mixed micelles starts to predominate.

Origin of the sphere-to-rod transition in cationic micelles with aromatic counterions: specific ion hydration in the interfacial region matters.

Sphere-to-rod transitions of cetyltrimethylammonium (CTA+) micelles with dichlorobenzoate counterions are remarkably substituent dependent. Simultaneous estimates of the interfacial molarities of H2O, MeOH, and Cl- and 2,6- and 3,5-dichlorobenzoate (2,6OBz and 3,5OBz) counterions were obtained by the chemical trapping method in mixed micelles of CTACl/CTA3,5OBz and CTACl/CTA2,6OBz without added salt. Increasing the CTA3,5OBz mole fraction produces a marked concurrent increase in interfacial 3,5OBz- and a decrease in interfacial H2O concentrations through the sphere-to-rod transition. No abrupt concentration changes are observed with increasing CTA2,6OBz mole fraction. Counterion-specific changes in the interfacial water concentration may be a major contributor to the delicate balance of forces governing micellar morphology.

Bovine serum albumin (BSA) plays a role in the size of SDS micelle-like aggregates at the saturation binding: the ionic strength effect.

The influence of ionic strength on the complexes formed by natural bovine serum albumin (BSA), pH 5.4 (near the isoelectric point), and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in aqueous buffered (sodium acetate) solution was investigated by using surface tension, fluorescence and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) techniques. Ionic strength was varied by changing sodium acetate buffer concentration from 0.020 to 0.5 M. Surface tension revealed that SDS:BSA saturation binding occurs at psp = 42 +/- 2 mM, independent of the solution ionic strength. Further, SAXS curves are consistent with the necklace and bead model, where micelle-like aggregates are randomly distributed along the partial unfolded protein. Micelle-like aggregates grow from small spheres at 10 mM SDS to small ellipsoids (upsilon = 1.3 , ratio between the largest and the shortest axes) near psp, in good agreement with micellar aggregation numbers obtained by fluorescence, independent of salt concentration. Protein-bound micelles stop growing above psp and further SDS addition induces free-micelle formation.

Evaluation of phenylboronate agarose for industrial-scale purification of erythropoietin from mammalian cell cultures.

The search for novel, cost-effective ways to produce erythropoietin (Epo), the world top-selling biopharmaceutical, is a major challenge for today's biotechnology industry. However, Epo's high glycosylation content (almost 40% of total mass) and the requirement for sialic acid for optimal in vivo activity still make mammalian cells the expression system of choice. In contrast to the abundance of reports on Epo production, robust, cost-effective methods for large-scale Epo purification can hardly be found in literature. To fill this gap, we describe here a process specifically studied for industrial-scale purification of the protein. Our method is based on the ability of phenylboronate agarose (PBA) to form reversible complexes with 1,2-cis-diol-containing molecules, like sugars in glycoproteins. Finding that additional factors (i.e., ionic and hydrophobic interactions) contribute to the Epo-PBA binding reaction, chromatography conditions have been optimized in scale-down experiments to improve selectivity and yield. As a result, the high performance of affinity chromatography has been achieved using a support possessing the robustness, chemical stability and low cost of a small synthetic ligand. By adding an anion exchange chromatography step and gel filtration for polishing, a pure and active product can easily be obtained by an integrated, start-to-end process optimized for industrial-scale operations.

Effect of alkyl group size on the mechanism of acid hydrolyses of benzaldehyde acetals.

Hydrolyses of benzaldehyde acetals, PhCH(OR)(2), are specific hydrogen-ion catalyzed when R = methyl, n-butyl, but with secondary and tertiary alkyl derivatives, R = i-propyl, s-butyl, t-butyl, t-amyl, hydrolyses are general-acid catalyzed. The Brønsted alpha values for both secondary and tertiary alkyl groups are in the range: alpha = 0.57-0.61. A simple iterative procedure was developed to estimate the individual rate constants for general-acid catalysis by the diacid and monoacid forms of succinic acid buffer. Plots of log k(obs) (at [buffer] = 0 M) against pH are linear for the secondary and tertiary acetals, and plots of log k(H) for the H(3)O(+)-catalyzed reaction, (13)C and (1)H chemical shifts, and (1)J(CH) coupling constants against the Charton steric parameter, nu, for alkoxy groups are linear. The second-order rate constant, k(H), increases about 100-fold on going from R = Me to R = t-amyl, indicating the significant role of steric effects on reactivity. Steric effects upon (13)C NMR chemical shifts and coupling constants indicate that increasing the bulk of the alkoxy moiety increases the electron density at the carbon reaction center, which accelerates hydrolysis. Analysis of the Jencks-More-O'Ferrall free energy diagram for the reaction provides support for concerted proton transfer and C-O bond breaking in the transition state for hydrolyses of benzaldehyde acetals with secondary and tertiary alkyl groups in contrast to specific hydrogen catalysis with R = Me and n-Bu. All our results are consistent with rate-determining acid hydrolysis of benzaldehyde dialkyl acetals to hemiacetal intermediates that breakdown rapidly to benzaldehyde.

A systematic study of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) interactions by surface tension and small angle X-ray scattering.

Classical parameters obtained from surface tension technique coupled to small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements gave support to investigate conformational changes in the bovine serum albumin (BSA)-sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) complexes, as well as the size of the micelle-like clusters distributed along the polypeptide chain. The studied systems were composed of 1 wt% of BSA in the absence and presence of increasing SDS molar concentration up to 80 mM, under experimental conditions of low ionic strength and pH 5.40. At SDS concentrations below the critical aggregation concentration (cac) of 2.2 mM, SAXS results indicate that the detergent does not modify the native protein conformation. However, the beginning of protein unfolding, evidenced by SAXS through an increase in the values of radius of gyration Rg and protein maximum dimension Dmax, is coincident with the onset of SDS cooperative binding to BSA identified by the first breakpoint in the surface tension-SDS profile. Further SDS addition leads to the formation of micelle-like aggregates randomly distributed along the unfolded polypeptide chain, consistent to a necklace and bead model. The SAXS data also demonstrate that the SDS micelles grow in size up to 50 mM detergent. At 50 mM surfactant, the micelles stop growing. This concentration is near the BSA saturation binding by SDS measured by dialyzes and indicated by the second breakpoint in surface tension-SDS profile. The SAXS and surface tension data are also consistent with the formation of free micelles in equilibrium with BSA-SDS complexes for surfactant amount above the saturation.

The role of the carboxylate head group in the interaction of sodium dodecanoate with poly(ethylene oxide) investigated by electrical conductivity, viscosity, and aggregation number measurements.

The binding of sodium dodecanoate (SDoD) to poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in aqueous solution was investigated and compared with the well-known polymer-surfactant complexes formed between PEO and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Electrical conductivity measurements indicated that the concentration ratio of bound SDoD to PEO (on monomer basis) was greater than that for the system PEO-SDS. However, the aggregation numbers of the micelles supported on the polymer chain are practically constant and similar for both surfactants at concentrations lower than the polymer saturation point. The difference in binding capability is explained in terms of a larger PEO coil expansion upon complexation of SDoD than in the case of SDS. An increase in the polymer surface favors the binding of SDoD to PEO in aqueous solution. This conclusion is supported by the results of the viscometric studies of PEO-surfactant solution.