Orientador: Valdecir Farias Ximenes / Coorientador: Aguinaldo Robinson de Souza / Banca: Daniel Rinaldo / Banca: Marinonio Lopes Cornelio / Resumo: A albumina é a proteína solúvel mais abundante no sangue e desempenha um papel crítico na manutenção da pressão osmótica e no transporte de substâncias. A divanilina apresenta propriedades antioxidantes e pode ser usada como intensificador de sabor e cremosidade nos alimentos. Em nosso trabalho realizamos um estudo abrangente sobre a interação da divanilina com a albumina do soro bovino (BSA) aplicando técnicas de fluorescência molecular e dicroísmo circular (CD) para determinar a constante de ligação, as características físico-químicas de suas interações e utilizar a divanilina como sonda suscetível a dicroísmo circular na discriminação de sítios de ligação na albumina a partir do monitoramento do sinal de Dicroísmo Circular Induzido (ICD). Os resultados obtidos indicaram que a divanilina pode se ligar aos sítios I e II, mas liga-se preferencialmente ao sítio de drogas I da BSA com constante de associação (Ka) de 3,33, 2,83, 2,03x105 M-1, em temperaturas de 298, 308 e 318 K, respectivamente. Esses valores foram cerca de 4 vezes mais elevados em comparação com a vanilina. Os valores obtidos de energia livre de Gibbs, variação de entalpia e entropia para a ligação a partir da equação de Van't Hoff foram de -31,5 kJ/mol, -19,42 kJ/mol e 40,8 J/mol.K-1, respectivamente, demonstrando que as forças principais que atuaram para a estabilização do complexo foram ligações de hidrogênio e interações hidrofóbicas. Em presença de BSA a divanilina tornou-se uma molécula quiral, fato evide... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The albumin is the most abundant soluble protein in blood and plays a critical role in maintaining the osmotic pressure and transport of substances. The divanillin has antioxidant properties and can be used as flavor enhancer in food and creaminess. In this work, we carried out a comprehensive study on the interaction of divanillin with bovine serum albumin (BSA) applying molecular fluorescence techniques and circular dichroism (CD) to determine the binding constant and the physicochemical characteristics of their interactions and use divanillin as susceptible probe circular dichroism in discrimination of albumin binding sites from the ICD signal monitoring. The results indicated that divanillin can bind to sites I and II, but preferentially binds to site I of drugs in BSA with association constant (Ka) 3.33, 2.83, 2.03x10M-1, at temperature (298, 308, 3181K) respectively. These values were about 5 times higher compared to vanillin. The values of Gibbs free energy, enthalpy and entropy changes for the connection from the van't Holf equation were - 31,5 kJ/mol, -19,42 kJ/mol and 40,8 J/mol.K-1, respectively, showing that the main forces that have acted to stabilize the complex were hydrogen bonds and hydrophonic interactions. In the presence of BSA, divanillin became a chiral molecule as evidenced by its induced circular dichroism spectrum. The axial chirality was was theoretically confirmed from the study of the most stable conformations adopted by divanillin using the Functional Theory Density (DFT). Axial chirality was theoretically confirmed from the study of the more stable conformations adopted by divanillin using the Functional Density Theory (DFT). Molecular docking studies confirmed the conformational structure to which divanilin bound in BSA with anti-aS having a dihedral angle between 230º and 241º. The preference for site I can also be confirmed by docking due... (Complete abstract electronic access below) / Mestre

No / Objectives Ischaemia modified albumin (IMA) has been used as a marker of myocardial ischaemia but little is known about its production during ischaemia of other tissues. The clinical models of patients with intermittent claudication and major arterial surgery were used to investigate IMA production from ischaemic skeletal muscle. Materials and methods IMA was measured pre-operatively, at end ischaemia, and 5min, 4, 24, 48, 72 and 144h post-surgery in patients undergoing (a) revascularisation for intermittent claudication (IC, n=15), (b) abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (AAA, n=12) and controls (n=16). Results The median pre-operative IMA concentration in IC patients was significantly higher than the AAA group (88.3 versus 83.5U/ml, p=0.036) and controls (88.3 versus 80.3U/ml, p=0.031). IMA concentrations increased significantly during arterial clamping in both IC and AAA groups (88.3 versus 120.0U/ml, p=0.001; 83.5 versus 118.8U/ml, p=0.002, respectively) consistent with increased skeletal muscle ischaemia. In contrast, there was only a mild perioperative increase in the controls (80.3 versus 91.6U/ml, p=0.012). Conclusions Patients with intermittent claudication have significantly elevated IMA and skeletal muscle ischaemia during arterial surgery results in significantly increased circulating IMA. When IMA is used to detect myocardial ischaemia, ischaemic skeletal muscle must be excluded.

No description available.

The thermal denaturation of proteins has been extensively studied using several methods including differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A custom-built optical system was used to study thermal effects on protein as an alternative method to DSC measurements. It was used to investigate the thermal stability of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with a focus on comparisons with published DSC data. In the first study, the effect of protein concentration on the thermal denaturation (Td) of BSA was determined and validated using published DSC data for bovine serum albumin (BSA). The optical rotation (OR) and transmitted light (TL) signals indicating protein conformational changes and gel formation, respectively, were collected during the heating of BSA solutions at ~6��C/min from room temperature to ~85��C. The experiments were performed on 1, 2.5 and 5% (w/v) BSA in 0.01 M phosphate buffer at pH 7 and ionic strength (IS) 0.08. BSA���s Td values obtained from this investigation were consistent with published values and had low experimental variability (CV<2.5%). In agreement with some but not all published data, increasing BSA concentration did not affect its thermal stability. Protein gel formation, however, increased with protein concentration. In the second study, changes in the OR and TL signal of BSA in 0.01 M phosphate buffer at pH 6.1, 7 and 7.9 with IS maintained at 0.04, 0.08 and 0.16 were recorded during the heating of BSA solutions at ~6��C/min from room temperature to ~85��C. BSA showed a maximum and minimum thermostability at pH 7 and 7.9, respectively, consistent with published values determined by DSC. BSA formed opaque gel at pH 6.1 approaching the BSA���s pI values. Increasing IS level did not have a significant effect on BSA���s Td value but promoted gel formation. In the third study, the optical method was applied to investigate the heat stability of BSA as affected by low concentrations of sucrose, trehalose or sorbitol. BSA solutions (2.5% w/v) in the presence of 0 5% sucrose, trehalose and sorbitol were heated at ~6��C/min from ambient temperature to ~85��C. In contrast with published work on the thermal stability of BSA in the presence of higher sugar concentrations, this study showed that increasing sugar concentration did not enhance the thermal stability of this protein. Also, the ability to promote protein stability among sucrose, trehalose and sorbitol were not significantly different. The significance of these studies is that they demonstrate that the custom-built optical methods here developed can be used to study heat-induced protein denaturation and the effect of environmental conditions. Future studies will examine other proteins such as ��-lactoglobulin or ��-lacactalbumin. A further advantage of optical systems is their ability to conduct real-time measurements which could be used for food processing control. / Graduation date: 2007

BACKGROUND:The major Dengue virus vector Aedes aegypti requires nutrients obtained from blood meal proteins to complete the gonotrophic cycle. Although bioinformatic analyses of Ae. aegypti midgut serine proteases have provided evolutionary insights, very little is known about the biochemical activity of these digestive enzymes.RESULTS:We used peptide specific antibodies to show that midgut serine proteases are expressed as zymogen precursors, which are cleaved to the mature form after blood feeding. Since midgut protein levels are insufficient to purify active proteases directly from blood fed mosquitoes, we engineered recombinant proteins encoding a heterologous enterokinase cleavage site to permit generation of the bona fide mature form of four midgut serine proteases (AaET, AaLT, AaSPVI, AaSPVII) for enzyme kinetic analysis. Cleavage of the chromogenic trypsin substrate BApNA showed that AaET has a catalytic efficiency (kcat/KM) that is ~30 times higher than bovine trypsin, and ~2-3 times higher than AaSPVI and AaSPVII, however, AaLT does not cleave BApNA. To measure the enzyme activities of the mosquito midgut proteases using natural substrates, we developed a quantitative cleavage assay based on cleavage of albumin and hemoglobin proteins. These studies revealed that the recombinant AaLT enzyme was indeed catalytically active, and cleaved albumin and hemoglobin with equivalent efficiency to that of AaET, AaSPVI, and AaSPVII. Structural modeling of the AaLT and AaSPVI mature forms indicated that AaLT is most similar to serine collagenases, whereas AaSPVI appears to be a classic trypsin.CONCLUSIONS:These data show that in vitro activation of recombinant serine proteases containing a heterologous enterokinase cleavage site can be used to investigate enzyme kinetics and substrate cleavage properties of biologically important mosquito proteases.

No description available.

No description available.

Das Ausmaß der Proteinbindung eines Arzneistoffs wirkt sich auf viele unterschiedliche pharmakokinetische Parameter aus. So wird beispielsweise das Verteilungsvolumen, die Metabolisierung oder die Elimination des entsprechenden Stoffes durch die Höhe seiner Proteinbindung beeinflusst. Da nur der im Plasma frei vorliegende Anteil eines Arzneistoffs in der Lage ist biologische Membranen zu überwinden, können auch nur die freien Arzneistoffmoleküle eine pharmakologische Wirkung an Rezeptoren oder Enzymen auslösen. Dementsprechend ist auch die Intensität der hervorgerufenen Wirkung von der Größe des ungebundenen Anteils eines Arzneistoffs abhängig. Aufgrund dieser Zusammenhänge ist klar, dass die Proteinbindung eines Arzneistoffes letztendlich Einfluss auf die Dosisfindung hat. Zur Ermittlung der Proteinbindung stehen viele unterschiedliche Methoden, wie beispielsweise die HPLC, Kapillarelektrophorese, Ultrazentrifugation, Gleichgewichtsdialyse und Ultrafiltration zur Verfügung. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde die kontinuierliche Ultrafiltration zur Ermittlung der Proteinbindung von Arzneistoffen angewendet. Hier wird die Proteinbindung nicht nur anhand einer bestimmten Arzneistoff- bzw. Albuminkonzentration gemessen, sondern über einen weiteren Bereich von Wirkstoff-Protein-Verhältnissen beobachtet. Des Weiteren ist der apparative Aufwand im Vergleich zu vielen anderen Methoden als geringer einzustufen. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde, die auf der von Heinze[122] entwickelte Messanlage weiter optimiert und eine zweite Anlage mit einem Diodenarraydetektor aufgebaut. Für letztere musste eine Software-Anpassung vorgenommen werden. Folgende Projekte wurden durchgeführt: 1) Um den In-vivo-Bedingungen nahe zu kommen, wurde bei der Bestimmung der Proteinbindung der Sartane nicht nur BSA und HSA verwendet, sondern erstmals auch humanes Plasma. Die Plasmamessungen der Sartane verliefen insgesamt problemlos, allerdings ist eine erfolgreiche Messung stark von der Qualität des eingesetzten Plasmas abhängig, wie Messungen der Naphthylisochinoline gezeigt haben. Im Vergleich mit HSA und Plasma ergaben die Messungen der Sartane mit bovinem Serumalbumin geringfügig erniedrigte Proteinbindungswerte. Insgesamt sind alle Ergebnisse sehr gut mit den Literaturwerten vergleichbar. 2) Das Ausmaß der Proteinbindung von Naphthylisochinolinen war bislang unbekannt und lag im Bereich von ca. 30-70%. Erneut waren die Resultate aus den Messungen von BSA und HSA nahezu gleich. 3) Am Beispiel der Interaktion zwischen Phenprocoumon und Phenylbutazon wurden zwei unterschiedliche Ansätze getestet, um die Verdrängung aus der Proteinbindung zu simulieren. Die erste Methode entsprach hierbei einer Konkurrenz der beiden interagierenden Stoffe um die Proteinbindungsstellen. Durch den Einfluss des Phenylbutazon verringerte sich die Proteinbindung des Phenprocoumon um 1%, was allerdings als statistisch nicht signifikant betrachtet werden kann. Im zweiten Ansatz, der eine direktere Verdrängung aus der Proteinbindung simulieren sollte, fiel die Proteinbindung des Phenprocoumon gegenüber den Einzelmessungen um 2,5% ab. Unter physiologischen Konzentrationsverhältnissen sank sich die Proteinbindung des Phenprocoumon auf 93,3%. Der freie Anteil erhöhte sich dementsprechend von 1% auf 6,7%. Somit konnte der Einfluss des Phenylbutazon auf die Proteinbindung des Phenprocoumon erfolgreich nachgewiesen werden. Die unveränderte Proteinbindung des Phenylbutazon im inversen Ansatz und die ermittelten pK-Werte bestätigen diese Interaktion. Grundsätzlich ist es also möglich mit der kontinuierlichen Ultrafiltration solche Interaktionen zu simulieren. 4) Zuletzt sollte der Frage nachgegangen werden, ob es mit der kontinuierlichen Ultrafiltration auch möglich ist die Proteinbindung von wasserunlöslichen Stoffen, nämlich den Aziridinen, in Gegenwart steigender Mengen DMSO, zu bestimmen. Die erhaltenen Ergebnisse wurden mit Literaturwerten ohne DMSO-Zusatz verglichen. Abgesehen von Candesartan, das eine lineare Korrelation zwischen DMSO-Gehalt der Wirkstofflösung und Absinken der Proteinbindung zeigte, konnte kein Zusammenhang zwischen der DMSO-Konzentration und der gemessenen Proteinbindung festgestellt werden. Die Mittelwerte lagen im Bereich der Literaturwerte. Insgesamt zeigten alle Versuchsreihen, dass die kontinuierliche Ultrafiltration eine ausgezeichnete, schnelle und robuste Screeningmethode zur Bestimmung des Ausmaßes der Proteinbindung bekannter und neuer Wirkstoffe darstellt. / The extent of protein binding has an impact on many pharmacokinetic parameters, e.g. absorption, distribution volume, metabolism or elimination of a drug. Since only the unbound fraction of a drug can penetrate through biological membranes, only the free drug molecules can induce a pharmacological effect on receptors or enzymes. According to that, the intensity of the effect depends also on the extent of the free drug fraction. Finally, knowledge about the extent of protein binding of a drug is important for the dosage finding. There are many different methods described for the evaluation of the extent of protein binding of a drug, like HPLC, capillary electrophoresis, ultracentrifugation, equilibrium dialysis and ultrafiltration. In this study the continuous ultrafiltration was used to determine the extent of protein binding of drugs. Compared to the discontinuous ultrafiltration, the extent of protein binding was assessed over a wide range of drug-protein-ratios and not only with one defined drug respectively albumin concentration. Here the ultrafiltration instrument described by Heinze[122], was modified and a second system with a multiwavelength detector was established. In this context the software was adapted in a few details. The following experiments were performed: 1) To get close to in vivo conditions, the extent of protein binding of the sartans was determined for the first time by means of human plasma in addition to experiments with HSA and BSA. In general, the evaluation of the protein binding was not problematic. Nevertheless the experiments with the naphthylisoquinolines showed, that a successful experiment with human plasma depends on the quality of the plasma. Compared to the measurements with human serum albumin and plasma, the determination of the protein binding of the sartans with bovine serum albumin showed slightly lower protein binding values. However, the extent of the protein binding of the sartans with BSA, HSA and plasma was in good accordance to values reported in the literature. 2) The extent of the protein binding of the naphthylisoquinolines was unknown so far, and was found to be in the range between 30-70%. Once more, the results of the experiments using BSA were confirmed by the measurements with HSA. 3) To simulate the displacement from the albumin, two different methods have been developed. Due to their well known interaction, phenprocoumon and phenylbutazone were used as test substances. In the first method, the two substances compete for the protein binding sites. Due to the influence of phenylbutazone, the extent of protein binding of phenprocoumon decreased by 1%. However, this decrease is statistically not significant. The second method simulated a direct displacement out of the protein binding. Compared with the single measurements, in this experiments the extent of protein binding of phenprocoumon decreased by 2.5%. With use of a physiological concentration ratio, the protein binding of phenprocoumon decreased from 99.0 to 93.3%. Indicating, that the free fraction of phenprocoumon increased from 1% to 6.7%. Thus, the interaction between the two substances was demonstrated by this method. The constant protein binding of phenylbutazone in the inverse approach and the determined pK-values support this result. 4) Last, the question should be answered, if it is possible to determine the extent of protein binding of water insoluble substances, namely the aziridines, by means of continuous ultrafiltration. For this purpose, five test substances were dissolved in a buffer solution with 1-10% DMSO. The results of the experiments were compared to literature values without DMSO. Candesartan showed a linear correlation between the DMSO-concentration and the extent of protein binding. The results of the other four substances indicated no correlation between the content of DMSO in the solution and the protein binding values. However, in all cases the average values were in accordance to the literature data. Overall, every project showed, that the continuous ultrafiltration is an excellent, fast and robust screening method for the evaluation of the extent of protein binding of known as well as new substances.

Thesis. 1976. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Chemical Engineering. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references. / Ph.D.

A utilização de colóides é indicada em várias situações, mas nem sempre aplicável na clínica de eqüinos. O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar o uso de solução concentrada de albumina eqüina (diluída a 5%) durante fluidoterapia em eqüinos com desidratação leve a moderada, comparando-a com fluidoterapia apenas com solução fisiológica. Foram utilizados dois grupos de cinco eqüinos adultos, sem alterações clínicas. Cada animal passou pelo protocolo dos dois grupos experimentais (fluidoterapia apenas com solução fisiológica; fluidoterapia com solução de albumina eqüina e solução fisiológica). A desidratação foi induzida com duas aplicações de furosemida e jejum. Durante o experimento foram realizadas várias avaliações: pesagem; exame físico geral; hematócrito; osmolalidade plasmática; gasometria; proteína total; albumina; Na; K; débito cardíaco; pressão arterial; uréia e creatinina, e cálculo da pressão oncótica e volume plasmático. Com a aplicação da solução de albumina houve diferença em relação ao outro grupo, embora nem sempre demonstrada estatisticamente, na avaliação do turgor de pele, hematócrito, proteína total, albumina, Na plasmático, pressão arterial, débito cardíaco, pressão oncótica e volume plasmático. Concluiu-se que: a aplicação apenas de pequeno volume de solução de albumina é capaz de causar efeitos comparáveis aos da infusão sob pressão de metade do volume de solução fisiológica calculado para reidratar o mesmo animal; ao final da fluidoterapia, a solução de albumina leva a maior valor de pressão arterial e de albumina sérica e menor de proteína total, mesmo sem diferença estatística, do que apenas a aplicação de solução fisiológica; ao final da fluidoterapia, com o uso de solução de albumina o turgor de pele dos animais ainda indica presença de desidratação, ao contrário dos que recebem apenas solução fisiológica onde o mesmo indica boa hidratação em todos os animais; a solução concentrada de albumina eqüina é passível de ser usada em fluidoterapia nesta espécie, com facilidade de preparação e aplicação e não demonstrando efeitos deletérios. / The colloids utilization is indicated in several situations, but not always applicable in equine practice. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of the equine concentrated albumin solution (diluted to 5%) during fluid therapy in horses with slight to moderate dehydration, making a comparison with fluid therapy only with physiologic saline solution. Two groups of five adult horses, without clinical alterations, were used. Each animal was submitted to the protocol of each experimental group (fluid therapy only with physiologic saline solution; fluid therapy with equine albumin solution and physiologic saline solution). The dehydration was induced with two administrations of furosemide and fasting. During the experimental period, several evaluations were made: weighing; gasometry; total protein; albumin; Na; K; cardiac output; arterial pressure; urea and creatinin, and calculation of the oncotic pressure and plasmatic volume. With the administration of albumin solution, there was difference, although not always statistically demonstrated in the evaluation of the skin turgor, packed cell volume, total protein and albumin, plasmatic Na, arterial pressure, cardiac output, oncotic pressure and plasmatic volume. It was concluded that: the administration of only a small volume of albumin solution is capable of causing effects comparable to the infusion under pressure of half of the calculated volume of physiologic saline solution necessary to rehydrated the animal; at the end of the fluid therapy, the albumin solution leads to higher values of arterial pressure and serum albumin and lower values of total protein, although without statistical difference, than the single administration of physiologic saline solution; at the end of the fluid therapy, with the use of the albumin solution, the skin turgor still indicates the presence of dehydration, the opposite that occurs with the animals when receiving only physiologic saline solution, where the test indicates good hydration in all the horses; the equine concentrated albumin solution is utilizable in fluid therapy in this species, with easy preparation and administration and with no demonstration of deleterial effects.