Identification of protein secondary structures by laser induced autofluorescence: A study of urea and GnHCl induced protein denaturation

Manjunath Siddaramaiah, Satyamoorthy Kapaettu, Bola Sadashiva Satish Rao, Suparna Roy, Subhash Chandra, K. K. Mahato*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In the present study an attempt has been made to interrogate the bulk secondary structures of some selected proteins (BSA, HSA, lysozyme, trypsin and ribonuclease A) under urea and GnHCl denaturation using laser induced autofluorescence. The proteins were treated with different concentrations of urea (3 M, 6 M, 9 M) and GnHCl (2 M, 4 M, 6 M) and the corresponding steady state autofluorescence spectra were recorded at 281 nm pulsed laser excitations. The recorded fluorescence spectra of proteins were then interpreted based on the existing PDB structures of the proteins and the Trp solvent accessibility (calculated using “Scratch protein predictor” at 30% threshold). Further, the influence of rigidity and conformation of the indole ring (caused by protein secondary structures) on the intrinsic fluorescence properties of proteins were also evaluated using fluorescence of ANS-HSA complexes, CD spectroscopy as well as with trypsin digestion experiments. The outcomes obtained clearly demonstrated GnHCl preferably disrupt helix as compared to the beta β-sheets whereas, urea found was more effective in disrupting β-sheets as compared to the helices. The other way round the proteins which have shown detectable change in the intrinsic fluorescence at lower concentrations of GnHCl were rich in helices whereas, the proteins which showed detectable change in the intrinsic fluorescence at lower concentrations of urea were rich in β-sheets. Since high salt concentrations like GnHCl and urea interfere in the secondary structure analysis by circular dichroism Spectrometry, the present method of analyzing secondary structures using laser induced autofluorescence will be highly advantageous over existing tools for the same.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)44-53
Number of pages10
JournalSpectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy
Volume174
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 05-03-2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Instrumentation
  • Spectroscopy

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