Biomedical subjects

Harmen H J de Jongh

Publications and source records attributed to Harmen H J de Jongh.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Deglycosylation of ovalbumin prohibits formation of a heat-stable conformer.

To study the influence of the carbohydrate-moiety of ovalbumin on the formation of the heat-stable conformer S-ovalbumin, ovalbumin is deglycosylated with PNGase-F under native conditions. Although the enzymatic deglycosylation procedure resulted in a complete loss of the ability to bind to Concavalin A column-material, only in about 50% the proteins lost their complete carbohydrate moiety, as demonstrated by mass spectrometry and size exclusion chromatography. Thermal stability and conformational changes were determined using circular dichroism and differential scanning calorimetry and demonstrated at ambient temperature no conformational changes due to the deglycosylation. Also the denaturation temperature of the processed proteins remained the same (77.4 +/- 0.4 degrees C). After heat treatment of the processed protein at 55 degrees C and pH 9.9 for 72 h, the condition that converts native ovalbumin into the heat-stable conformer (S-ovalbumin), only the material with the intact carbohydrate moiety forms this heat-stable conformer. The material that effectively lost its carbohydrate moiety appeared fully denatured and aggregated due to these processing conditions. These results indicate that the PNGase-F treatment of ovalbumin prohibits the formation and stabilization of the heat-stable conformer S-ovalbumin. Since S-ovalbumin in egg protein samples is known to affect functional properties, this work illustrates a potential route to control the quality of egg protein ingredients.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

The adsorption and unfolding kinetics determines the folding state of proteins at the air-water interface and thereby the equation of state.

Unfolding of proteins has often been mentioned as an important factor during the adsorption process at air-water interfaces and in the increase of surface pressure at later stages of the adsorption process. This work focuses on the question whether the folding state of the adsorbed protein depends on the rate of adsorption to the interface, which can be controlled by bulk concentration. Therefore, the adsorption of proteins with varying structural stabilities at several protein concentrations was studied using ellipsometry and surface tensiometry. For beta-lactoglobulin the adsorbed amount (Gamma) needed to reach a certain surface pressure (Pi) decreased with decreasing bulk concentration. Ovalbumin showed no such dependence. To verify whether this difference in behavior is caused by the difference in structural stability, similar experiments were performed with cytochrome c and a destabilized variant of this protein. Both proteins showed identical Pi-Gamma, and no dependence on bulk concentration. From this work it was concluded that unfolding will only take place if the kinetics of adsorption is similar or slower than the kinetics of unfolding. The latter depends on the activation energy of unfolding (which is in the order of 100-300 kJ/mol), rather than the free energy of unfolding (typically 10-50 kJ/mol).

Adsorption↗

PubMed2006

Importance of physical vs. chemical interactions in surface shear rheology.

The stability of adsorbed protein layers against deformation has in literature been attributed to the formation of a continuous gel-like network. This hypothesis is mostly based on measurements of the increase of the surface shear elasticity with time. For several proteins this increase has been attributed to the formation of intermolecular disulfide bridges between adsorbed proteins. However, according to an alternative model the shear elasticity results from the low mobility of the densely packed proteins. To contribute to this discussion, the actual role of disulfide bridges in interfacial layers is studied. Ovalbumin was thiolated with S-acetylmercaptosuccinic anhydride (S-AMSA), followed by removal of the acetylblock on the sulphur atom, resulting in respectively blocked (SX) and deblocked (SH) ovalbumin variants. This allows comparison of proteins with identical amino acid sequence and similar globular packing and charge distribution, but different chemical reactivity. The presence and reactivity of the introduced, deblocked sulfhydryl groups were confirmed using the sulfhydryl-disulfide exchange index (SEI). Despite the reactivity of the introduced sulfhydryl groups measured in solution, no increase in the surface shear elasticity could be detected with increasing reactivity. This indicates that physical rather than chemical interactions determine the surface shear behaviour. Further experiments were performed in bulk solution to study the conditions needed to induce covalent aggregate formation. From these studies it was found that mere concentration of proteins (to 200 mg/mL, equivalent to a surface concentration of around 2 mg/m(2)) is not sufficient to induce significant aggregation to form a continuous network. In view of these results, it was concluded that the adsorbed layer should not be considered a gelled network of aggregated material (in analogy with three-dimensional gels formed from heating protein solutions). Rather, it would appear that the adsorbed proteins form a highly packed system of proteins with net-repulsive interactions.

Adsorption↗

PubMed2006

Assessing the extent of protein intermolecular interactions at air-water interfaces using spectroscopic techniques.

There is an ongoing debate about whether a protein surface film at an air-water interface can be regarded as a gelled layer. There is literature reporting that such films show macroscopic fracture behavior and a rheology comparable to three-dimensional protein bulk-networks. If this is the case, a complete description of the formation of adsorbed layers should include a transition from single, freely moving proteins to a gelled layer. This report presents studies using spectroscopic techniques, such as infrared, fluorescence and neutron spectroscopy, or ellipsometry, to derive molecular insight in situ to substantiate the intermolecular networking in surface films of chicken egg ovalbumin. It is concluded that protein films, generated by equilibrium adsorption from the bulk, behave as a densely packed colloidal repulsive particle system, where the proteins still have a significant rotational mobility, have a predominantly retained globular fold, and show distinct (lateral) diffusion. Applied stresses on the surface film (by compressions of the interface) may result in protein denaturation and aggregation. This process renders a surface film from a colloidal particle into that of a gelled system.

Air↗

PubMed2005

Identification of pitfalls in the analysis of heat capacity changes of beta-lactoglobulin A.

Information on changes in heat capacity (DeltaCp) of proteins upon unfolding is used frequently in literature to understand possible follow-up reactions of protein denaturation, like their aggregation propensity. This thermodynamic property is intrinsic to the protein's architecture and unfolding and should be independent of the approach used to evaluate it. However, for many proteins, the reported values for DeltaCp vary considerably. To identify whether the origin of these discrepancies lies within the experimental approach chosen and/or in the too simplified unfolding models used in the analysis of the data, we choose beta-lactoglobulin A, a relatively small protein, but disputed for its two-state unfolding, and established its DeltaCp from tryptophan fluorescence, near-UV circular dichroism and differential scanning calorimetric measurements. In view of the large variation for the obtained DeltaCp (between 3.2 and 10.1+/-0.8 kJ/(mol K)), it is evident that: (1) the sensitivity of different approaches to the structural changes; (2) irreversibility of unfolding; (3) non-ideal two-state unfolding behaviour need to be considered prior to interpretation. While the first two points can be addressed by using multiple approaches, the applicability of the selected unfolding behaviour for the analysis is often less easy to establish. In this work, we illustrate that by checking the wavelength-dependence used to detect protein conformational changes a tool is provided that gives a direct insight in the validity of the interpretation in these studies. An experimentally validated determination of DeltaCp allows a more proper use for the mechanistic understanding of protein denaturation and its follow-up reactions, avoiding pitfalls in the interpretation.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Quantitative description of the relation between protein net charge and protein adsorption to air-water interfaces.

In this study a set of chemically engineered variants of ovalbumin was produced to study the effects of electrostatic charge on the adsorption kinetics and resulting surface pressure at the air-water interface. The modification itself was based on the coupling of succinic anhydride to lysine residues on the protein surface. After purification of the modified proteins, five homogeneous batches were obtained with increasing degrees of modification and zeta-potentials ranging from -19 to -26 mV (-17 mV for native ovalbumin). These batches showed no changes in secondary, tertiary, or quaternary structure compared to the native protein. However, the rate of adsorption as measured with ellipsometry was found to decrease with increasing net charge, even at the initial stages of adsorption. This indicates an energy barrier to adsorption. With the use of a model based on the random sequential adsorption model, the energy barrier for adsorption was calculated and found to increase from 4.7 kT to 6.1 kT when the protein net charge was increased from -12 to -26. A second effect was that the increased electrostatic repulsion resulted in a larger apparent size of the adsorbed proteins, which went from 19 to 31 nm2 (native and highest modification, respectively), corresponding to similar interaction energies at saturation. The interaction energy was found to determine not only the saturation surface load but also the surface pressure as a function of the surface load. This work shows that, in order to describe the functionality of proteins at interfaces, they can be described as hard colloidal particles. Further, it is shown that the build-up of protein surface layers can be described by the coulombic interactions, exposed protein hydrophobicity, and size.

Adsorption↗

PubMed2005

Glucosylation of beta-lactoglobulin lowers the heat capacity change of unfolding; a unique way to affect protein thermodynamics.

Chemical glycosylation of proteins occurs in vivo spontaneously, especially under stress conditions, and has been linked in a number of cases to diseases related to protein denaturation and aggregation. It is the aim of this work to study the origin of the change in thermodynamic properties due to glucosylation of the folded beta-lactoglobulin A. Under mild conditions Maillard products can be formed by reaction of epsilon-amino groups of lysines with the reducing group of, in this case, glucose. The formed conjugates described here have an average degree of glycosylation of 82%. No impact of the glucosylation on the protein structure is detected, except that the Stokes radius was increased by approximately 3%. Although at ambient temperatures the change in Gibbs energy of unfolding is reduced by 20%, the denaturation temperature is increased by 5 degrees C. Using a combination of circular dichroism, fluorescence, and calorimetric approaches, it is shown that the change in heat capacity upon denaturation is reduced by 60% due to the glucosylation. Since in the denatured state the Stokes radius of the protein is not significantly smaller for the glucosylated protein, it is suggested that the nonpolar residues associate to the covalently linked sugar moiety in the unfolded state, thereby preventing their solvent exposure. In this way coupling of small reducing sugar moieties to solvent exposed groups of proteins offers an efficient and unique tool to deal with protein stability issues, relevant not only in nature but also for technological applications.

Calorimetry↗

PubMed2005

Reversible denaturation of Brazil nut 2S albumin (Ber e1) and implication of structural destabilization on digestion by pepsin.

The high resistance of Brazil nut 2S albumin, previously identified as an allergen, against proteolysis by pepsin was examined in this work. Although the denaturation temperature of this protein exceeds the 110 degrees C at neutral pH, at low pH a fully reversible thermal denaturation was observed at approximately 82 degrees C. The poor digestibility of the protein by pepsin illustrates the tight globular packing. Chemical processing (i.e., subsequent reduction and alkylation of the protein) was used to destabilize the globular fold. Far-UV circular dichroism and infrared spectroscopy showed that the reduced and alkylated form had lost its beta-structures, whereas the alpha-helix content was conserved. The free energy of stabilization of the globular fold of the processed protein as assessed by a guanidine titration study was only 30-40% of that of the native form. Size exclusion chromatography indicated that the heavy chain lost its globular character once separated from the native 2S albumin. The consequences of these changes in structural stability for degradation by pepsin were analyzed using gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. Whereas native 2S albumin was digested slowly in 1 h, the reduced and alkylated protein was digested completely within 30 s. These results are discussed in view of the potential allergenicity of Brazil nut 2S albumin.

2S Albumins, Plant↗

PubMed2005

Disulphide bond formation in food protein aggregation and gelation.

In this short review we discuss the role of cysteine residues and cystine bridges for the functional aggregation of food proteins. We evaluate how formation and cleavage of disulphide bonds proceeds at a molecular level, and how inter- and intramolecular disulfide bonds can be detected and modified. The differences between heat-, high-pressure-, and denaturant-induced unfolding and aggregation are discussed. The effect of disulphide bonding between aggregates of proteins and protein mixtures on the functional macroscopic properties of space filling networks in protein gels is briefly presented.

Disulfides↗

PubMed2004

Modification of beta-lactoglobulin by oligofructose: impact on protein adsorption at the air-water interface.

Maillard products of beta-lactoglobulin (betaLg) and fructose oligosaccharide (FOS) were obtained in different degrees of modification depending on incubation time and pH. By use of a variety of biochemical and spectroscopic tools, it was demonstrated that the modification at limited degrees does not significantly affect the secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structure of betaLg. The consequence of the modification on the thermodynamics of the protein was studied using differential scanning calorimetry, circular dichroism, and by monitoring the fluorescence intensity of protein samples with different concentrations of guanidine-HCl. The modification leads to lowering of the denaturation temperature by 5 degrees C and a reduction of the free energy of stabilization of about 30%. Ellipsometry and drop tensiometry demonstrated that upon adsorption to air-water interfaces in equilibrium modified betaLg exerts a lower surface pressure than native betaLg (16 versus 22 mN/m). Moreover, the surface elastic modulus increased with increasing surface pressure but reached significantly smaller values in the case of FOS-betaLg. Compared to native betaLg, modification of the protein with oligofructose moieties results in higher surface loads and thicker surface layers. The consequences of these altered surface rheological properties are discussed in view of the functional behavior in technological applications.

Adsorption↗

PubMed2003

Chemical processing as a tool to generate ovalbumin variants with changed stability.

Processing of ovalbumin may result in proteins that differ more than 23 degrees C in denaturation temperature while the structural fold is not significantly affected. This is achieved by 1) conversion of positive residues into negative ones (succinylation); 2) elimination of negative charges (methylation); 3) reducing the proteins hydrophobic exposure (glycosylation); 4) increasing the hydrophobic exposure (lipophilization); or by 5) processing under alkaline conditions and elevated temperature (S-ovalbumin). The effect on the structural fold was investigated using a variety of biochemical and spectroscopic tools. The consequences of the modification on the thermodynamics of the protein was studied using differential scanning calorimetry and by monitoring the tryptophan fluorescence or ellipticity at 222 nm of protein samples dissolved in different concentrations of guanidine-HCl. The impact of the modification on the denaturation temperature scales for all types of modifications with a free energy change of about 1 kJ per mol ovalbumin per Kelvin (or 0.0026 kJ per mol residue per K). The nature of the covalently coupled moiety determines the impact of the modification on the protein thermodynamics. It is suggested that especially for lipophilized protein the water-binding properties are substantially lowered. Processing of globular proteins in a controlled manner offers great opportunities to control a desired functionality, for example, as texturizer in food or medical applications.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Spectrophotometric tool for the determination of the total carboxylate content in proteins; molar extinction coefficient of the enol ester from Woodward's reagent K reacted with protein carboxylates.

A number of relevant properties of Woodward's reagent K have been determined, such as the stability of the reactant and the optimal reaction conditions of the reactant with protein carboxylates. A Woodward's reagent K stock solution was stable at 4 degrees C for prolonged time, whereas upon storage at 22 degrees C, almost 20% of the reactive compound was lost within 1 week. The pH-dependency of the spontaneous degradation reaction of Woodward's reagent K was studied and was shown to be base-mediated. A molar extinction coefficient of 3150 M(-1) cm(-1) at 269 nm for the enol ester resulting from the reaction between Woodward's reagent K and the protein carboxylates was established using the conditions laid out in this work. This value was validated using a variety of proteins that were modified by Woodward's reagent K. In addition, upon methylation of the carboxylates of a single protein, ovalbumin in this case, the degree of modification could be determined accurately and was confirmed by cation exchange chromatography elution profiles.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Structure and dynamics of egg white ovalbumin adsorbed at the air/water interface.

The molecular properties of egg white ovalbumin adsorbed at the air/water interface were studied using infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS) and time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy (TRFA) techniques. Ovalbumin adsorbed at the air/water interface adopts a characteristic partially unfolded conformation in which the content of the beta-sheet is 10% lower compared to that of the protein in bulk solution. Adsorption to the interface leads to considerable changes in the rotational dynamics of ovalbumin. The results indicate that the end-over-end mobility of the ellipsoidal protein becomes substantially restricted. This is likely to reflect a preferential orientation of the protein at the interface. Continuous compression of surface layers of ovalbumin causes local aggregation of the protein, resulting in protein-network formation at the interface. The altered protein-protein interactions contribute to the strong increase in surface pressure observed.

Adsorption↗

PubMed2003

The presence of heat-stable conformers of ovalbumin affects properties of thermally formed aggregates.

The aim of this work was to study the effect of the formation of more heat-stable conformers of chicken egg ovalbumin during incubation at basic pH (9.9) and elevated temperature (55 degrees C) on the protein aggregation properties at neutral pH. Native ovalbumin (N-OVA) is converted on the hours time-scale into more heat-stable forms denoted I- (intermediate) and S-OVA, that have denaturation temperatures 4.8 and 8.4 degrees C, respectively, higher than that of N-OVA. The conversions most likely proceed via I-OVA, but direct conversion of N-OVA into S-OVA with slower kinetics can not be excluded. It is demonstrated that both I- and S-OVA have similar denaturation characteristics to N-OVA, except that higher temperatures are required for denaturation. The presence of even small contributions of I-OVA does, however, reduce the Stokes radius of the aggregates formed upon heat treatment of the material at 90 degrees C about 2-fold. This affects the gel network formation considerably. Since many (commercial) preparations of ovalbumin contain varying contributions of the more heat-stable forms mentioned, proper characterization or standardization of the isolation procedure of the material is essential to control or predict the industrial application of this protein.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Role of calcium as trigger in thermal beta-lactoglobulin aggregation.

Divalent calcium ions have been suggested to be involved in intermolecular protein-Ca2+-protein cross-linking, intramolecular electrostatic shielding, or ion-induced protein conformational changes as a trigger for protein aggregation at elevated temperatures. To address the first two phenomena in the case of beta-lactoglobulin, a combination of chemical protein modification, calcium-binding, and aggregation studies was used, while the structural integrity of the modified proteins was maintained. Although increasing the number of carboxylates on the protein by succinylation results in improved calcium-binding, calcium appears to be less effective in inducing protein aggregation. In fact, the larger the number of carboxylates, the higher the concentration of calcium that is required to trigger the aggregation. Lowering the number of negative charges on the protein surface via methylation of carboxylates reduces calcium-binding properties, but calcium-induced aggregation at low concentration is improved. Monovalent sodium ions cannot take over the specific role of calcium. The relation between net surface charge and number of calcium ions bound required to trigger the aggregation suggests that calcium needs to bind site specific to carboxylates with a threshold affinity. Subsequent site-specific screening of surface charges results in protein aggregation, driven by the partial unfolding of the protein at elevated temperatures, which is then facilitated by the absence of electrostatic repulsion.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Physical and chemical interactions in cold gelation of food proteins.

pH-Induced cold gelation of whey proteins is a two-step process. After protein aggregates have been prepared by heat treatment, gelation is established at ambient temperature by gradually lowering the pH. To demonstrate the importance of electrostatic interactions between aggregates during this latter process, beta-lactoglobulin aggregates with a decreased iso-electric point were prepared via succinylation of primary amino groups. The kinetics of pH-induced gelation was affected significantly, with the pH gelation curves shifting to lower pH after succinylation. With increasing modification, the pH of gelation decreased to about 2.5. In contrast, unmodified aggregates gel around pH 5. Increasing the iso-electric point of beta-lactoglobulin via methylation of carboxylic acid groups resulted in gelation at more alkaline pH values. Comparable results were obtained with whey protein isolate. At low pH disulfide cross-links between modified aggregates were not formed after gelation and the gels displayed both syneresis and spontaneous gel fracture, in this way resembling the morphology of previously characterized thiol-blocked whey protein isolate gels (Alting, et al., J. Agric. Food Chem. 2000, 48, 5001-5007). Our results clearly demonstrate the importance of the net electric charge of the aggregates during pH-induced gelation. In addition, the absence of disulfide bond formation between aggregates during low-pH gelation was demonstrated with the modified aggregates.

Chemical Phenomena↗

PubMed2002

Effects of ethanol on structure and solubility of potato proteins and the effects of its presence during the preparation of a protein isolate.

In this study, a protein isolate with a high solubility at neutral pH was prepared from industrial potato juice by precipitation at pH 5 in the presence of ethanol. The effects of ethanol itself and the effects of its presence during precipitation on the properties of various potato protein fractions were examined. The presence of ethanol significantly reduced the denaturation temperature of potato proteins, indicating that the preparation of this potato protein isolate should be performed at low temperature in order to retain a high solubility. In the presence of ethanol, the thermal unfolding of the tertiary and the secondary structure of patatin was shown to be almost completely independent. Even at 4 degrees C, precipitation of potato proteins in the presence of ethanol induced significant conformational changes. These changes did, however, only result in minor changes in the solubility of the potato protein fractions as a function of pH and heat treatment temperature.

Calorimetry, Differential Scanning↗

PubMed2002

Effect of heat-induced aggregation on the IgE binding of patatin (Sol t 1) is dominated by other potato proteins.

The interaction of the major potato allergen patatin, Sol t 1, with IgE was investigated on a quantitative level as a function of heat treatment at different temperatures. On the basis of a number of publications, potato is considered to be a heat-labile allergen, but the molecular explanation for this behavior was not given. In this work, heat treatment of patatin in the absence and presence of other potato proteins mimicking the proteinaceous environment of the potato was studied. Using far-UV circular dichrosim spectroscopy, tryptophan fluorescence spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry, the molecular transitions during heating of patatin were investigated. It was found that as long as patatin is not aggregated, denaturation of patatin on a secondary or tertiairy folding level is reversible with only a minor effect on the IgE affinity. Aggregation of patatin results in a nonreversible unfolding and a concomitant important decrease in affinity for IgE (25-fold). Aggregation of patatin in the presence of other potato proteins results in a less condensed aggregate compared to the situation of isolated patatin, resulting in a more pronounced decrease of affinity for IgE (110-fold). It is concluded that the heat lability of patatin-IgE interaction is explained by aggregation of patatin with other potato proteins rather than by denaturation of patatin itself.

Adult↗