A transição sol-gel de lisozima dispersa em tetrametiluréia/água foi investigada em profundidade. Tais dispersões geraram sistemas de alta viscosidade que evoluíram para a formação de géis ?físicos?, i.e., sistemas de redes viscoelásticas mantidas por interações do tipo forças de van der Walls e ligações de hidrogênio. O enfoque deste trabalho foi dividido em duas frentes: a) estudo do sistema lisozima nas misturas binárias; b) estudo das misturas binárias indutoras do efeito de gelificação na ausência da proteína. Realizou-se um estudo cinético e dinâmico das dispersões e géis por meio de experimentos reológicos, espectroscópicos e calorimétricos. A partir dos resultados reológicos procurou-se correlacionar as propriedades mecânicas macroscópicas dos géis com suas propriedades microscópicas, tendo sido possível estabelecer o caráter fractal dos agregados formados. Os estudos espectroscópicos no infravermelho permitiram acompanhar mudanças estruturais da proteína durante o processo de gelificação, revelando o efeito do meio na estruturação secundária da lisozima. Observou-se que a mistura binária tende a causar um aumento de conteúdo de folhas b na proteína quando acima da concentração crítica de fração de massa de tetrametiluréia em água (wTMU > 0,6), com uma concomitante redução no teor de hélices alfa. Estudos calorimétricos revelaram uma dependência inversamente linear das entalpias e temperaturas de denaturação da lisozima com a concentração do co-solvente orgânico no sistema, observando-se ausência de qualquer evento térmico na região acima da concentração crítica do solvente misto. Com a finalidade de se sondar as características dinâmicas e estruturais das misturas binárias responsáveis pela indução do efeito de gelificação em lisozima, foram realizados estudos solvatocrômicos envolvendo as misturas binárias tetrametiluréia/co-solvente, em que os co-solventes ensaiados foram água e alguns álcoois. A comparação entre o efeito solvatocrômico das misturas TMU/água e TMU/álcool permitiu verificar o caráter estruturador da TMU em meio aquoso e seu efeito desestruturador nos meios alcoólicos. / Lysozyme sol-gel transition in tetramethylurea/water was investigated in depth. These dispersions produced highly viscous systems, which evolved to physical gels, i.e., systems where the gel backbone is maintained by van der Walls forces and hydrogen bonding. The work was conducted in two fronts: a) the study of lysozyme dispersions in binary mixtures; b) the study of the binary mixtures themselves. A kinetics and dynamical characterization of the dispersions and gels was undertaken by means of rheological, spectroscopic and calorimetric assays. In the light of the rheological data, correlations were proposed between the gel mechanical macroscopic behaviour and its microscopic properties. The fractal character of the gels was established and their dimensionality calculated. Infrared spectroscopic experiments revealed changes in the protein secondary structure during and well after the sol-gel transition induced by the binary solvent mixture. It was found that the binary mixture induces an increase in the b-sheet content with a concomitant reduction of the a-helix, when above its critical concentration, as expressed in mass fraction of tetramethylurea in the binary mixture (wTMU >0.6). Calorimetric studies revealed that both denaturation temperature and enthalpy decrease linearly with the increase of TMU mass fraction in the mixed solvent, with no thermal effect being noticed above the binary mixture critical concentration. In order to investigate the dynamic and structural characteristics of the binary mixtures responsible for lysozyme sol-gel transition, solvatochromic assays were carried out for several TMU/co-solvent systems, where the co-solvents assayed were water and a few alcohols. Results revealed that TMU has structure-maker behaviour in water and structure-breaker behaviour in alcohol systems.

Compreender a função das diferentes proteínas e citocinas durante a vigência de alterações inflamatórias pode contribuir para um melhor conhecimento do sistema imunológico dos mamíferos marinhos e sua relação com os processos patológicos. A toninha, Pontoporia blainvillei, é um cetáceo costeiro e o único golfinho brasileiro considerado ameaçado de extinção devido às atividades antrópicas. O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar as imunoexpressões das citocinas TGF-β, TNF-α e IL-12 e proteínas S-100 e lisozima em amostras pulmonares e esplênicas de 34 espécimes de P. blainvillei. Com base nas alterações histopatológicas, os animais foram divididos em dois grupos: G1 (n = 8) - animais sem doença inflamatória pulmonar; G2 (n = 26) - animais com doenças inflamatórias pulmonares. Os fragmentos de pulmão e baço foram processados de acordo com os protocolos de rotina. A padronização das reações de imuno-histoquímica e análise morfométrica foram realizadas conforme procedimentos descritos na literatura. Os nossos dados demonstram que as P. blainvillei pertencentes ao G2 apresentam imunoexpressão pulmonar das citocinas TGF-β, TNF-α e IL-12 e proteínas S-100 e lisozima significativamente maior que os animais do G1. Tais resultados corroboram os dados disponíveis na literatura, indicando que a P. blainvillei apresenta citocinas com funções semelhantes às encontradas em outros mamíferos.Evidenciamos também, que as P. blainvillei pertencentes ao G2 não apresentam imunoexpressão esplênica das citocinas TGF-β, TNF-α e IL-12 e da proteína lisozima significativamente maior que os animais do G1. Estudos mais detalhados, incluindo aqueles relacionados com os métodos utilizados, são necessários para a adequada compreensão destes resultados. E finalmente, apesar de tratar-se de dados ainda preliminares, observou-se uma possível associação entre elevadas concentrações de organoclorados no tecido adiposo subcutâneo de parcela dos exemplares de P. blainvillei estudados na presente investigação e a ocorrência de depleção linfóide esplênica nestes animais. Tais dados ratificam a importância do desenvolvimento de análise mais detalhada sobre estes tópicos em futuras investigações científicas. / The understanding of the role of different proteins and cytokines during the inflammatory diseases could lead to better knowledge of the marine mammal immune system and its relation to pathological process. Franciscana dolphin, Pontoporia blainvillei, is a coastal cetacean and the only Brazilian dolphin considered threatened with extinction, due to the human activities. The aim of the current study was to investigate the immunoexpression of TGF-β, TNF-α and IL-12 cytokines, and S-100 and Lysozyme proteins in pulmonary and splenic samples of 34 Pontoporia blainvillei. Based on histopathological examination, the animals were divided in two groups: G1 (n = 8) animals without pulmonary inflammatory disease; G2 (n = 26) animals with pulmonary inflammatory diseases. Fragments of lung and spleen were processed according to routine protocols. The immunohistochemistry and morphometric procedures were tested and optimized according to proceedings described in literature. Our results showed that P. blainvillei from G2 presented significant increase in the pulmonary immunoexpression of TGF-β, TNF-α and IL-12 cytokines, and S-100 and Lysozyme proteins in comparison with animals from G1. These results are according to the literature and suggest that P. blainvillei presents same cytokines observed in other mammals. We evidenced also that the P. blainvillei belonging to the G2 did not show splenic immunoexpression to TGF-β, TNF-α and IL- 12 cytokines and Lysozyme protein significantly higher than animals from G1. Further studies, including those related to the methods used, are necessary for the proper understanding of these results. And finally, although these are still preliminary data, we observed a possible association between high concentrations of organochlorines in subcutaneous adipose tissue of a portion of P. blainvillei studied in this research and the occurrence of splenic lymphoid depletion in these animals. These data confirm the importance of developing more detailed analysis on these topics in future scientific investigations.

Apesar de extensa investigação das modificações oxidativas irreversíveis sofridas pelas proteínas in vitro e in vivo, os produtos formados pela oxidação de resíduos de triptofano ainda permanecem apenas parcialmente conhecidos. Recentemente, nosso grupo caracterizou uma ligação cruzada de ditriptofano produzida pela recombinação de radicais hSOD1-triptofanila gerados pelo ataque do radical carbonato produzido durante a atividade peroxidásica da enzima superóxido dismutase humana (hSOD1). Neste trabalho, examinamos se a ligação ditriptofano pode ser formada em outras proteínas, além da hSOD1 e por outros oxidantes, além do radical carbonato. A lisozima da clara do ovo e a beta cristalino bovina foram utilizadas como alvos de oxidação. A lisozima foi utilizada por ser uma enzima pequena (129 aminoácidos) e de estrutura bem conhecida, contendo seis resíduos de Trp. Os resultados mostraram que o radical carbonato, gerado enzimatica ou fotoliticamente, promove a oxidação, dimerização e inativação da lisozima. Os principais produtos de oxidação caracterizados por análise de nano-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS foram hidroxi-triptofano e N-formilquinurenina juntamente com um dímero de lisozima (lisozima-Trp28-Trp28-lisozima) e um hetero dímero lisozima-hSOD1 (lisozima-Trp28-Trp32-hSOD1), ambos ligados por uma ligação ditriptofano. Também demonstramos que a irradiação da lisozima com luz UVC leva à formação do dímero lisozima-Trp28-Trp28-lisozima. Em consequência, resolvemos tratar a beta cristalino bovina com radical carbonato gerado fotoliticamente ou com luz UVC, e a proteína também sofreu oxidação, dimerização e agregação. Os principais produtos de oxidação caracterizados por nano-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS foram hidroxi-triptofano, N-formilquinurenina, DOPA e um dímero de beta cristalino (βB2-Trp151-Trp151-βB2). A irradiação com luz UVC também levou à formação de um dímero intra-cadeia, caracterizado como βA2-Trp78-Trp81. Quando a beta cristalino foi irradiada com um simulador de luz solar (UVA e UVB) também foi possível observar um dímero, caracterizado como βA2-Trp150-Trp150-βA2. A presença de produtos de oxidação de resíduos de Trp, dentre eles a ligação cruzada ditritpofano, também foi avaliada in vivo, utilizando o cristalino de pacientes que foram submetidos a cirurgia para remoção de catarata. Beta, alfa e gama cristalino foram as principais proteínas identificadas nas frações solúvel e insolúvel do cristalino. A principal modificação pós-traducionais identificada foi deamidação. Um alto conteúdo de resíduos de metionina e triptofano oxidados foram identificados nas proteínas presentes na fração insolúvel. Os principais produtos de oxidação de Trp identificados por nano-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS foram quinurenina e N-formilquinurenina. A presença de dímeros covalentes no cristalino com catarata foi confirmada por análises de massas. A completa caracterização desses dímeros (βB1-Trp127-Trp127-βB1 e βB1-Trp193-Trp193-βB1) confirmou que as cadeias polipeptídicas foram ligadas por uma ligação ditriptofano. Em síntese, nossos dados demonstraram que o radical carbonato e a luz UV podem produzir dímeros de ditriptofano em diferentes proteínas. Também, a presença da ligação cruzada de ditriptofano in vivo (catarata humana) foi pela primeira vez detectada. / Despite extensive investigation of irreversible oxidative modifications suffered by proteins in vitro and in vivo, the products formed by oxidation of tryptophan residues remain partially characterized. Our group recently described a ditryptophan cross-link produced by recombination of hSOD1-tryptophanyl radicals generated by attack of the carbonate radical produced during the peroxidase activity of the human superoxide dismutase (hSOD1) enzyme. Here, we examine whether the ditryptophan cross-link can be produced in others proteins besides the hSOD1 and by other oxidants, in addition to the carbonate radical. The egg white lysozyme and bovine beta crystalline were used as targets. Lysozyme was used because it is a small enzyme (129 amino acids) with a well-known structure, containing six Trp residues. The results showed that the carbonate radical, generated enzymatically or photolytically, promotes lysozyme oxidation, inactivation and dimerization. The major oxidation products characterized by nano-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS analysis were hydroxy-tryptophan and N-formylkynurenine together with a dimer of lysozyme (lysozyme-Trp28-Trp28-lysozyme) and a hetero dimer hSOD1-lysozyme (lysozyme-Trp28-Trp32-hSOD1), both bound by a ditryptophan cross-link. Also, it was demonstrated that lysozyme irradiation with UVC light leads to the formation of the dimer lysozyme-Trp28-Trp28-lysozyme. In view of these results, we decided to treat beta crystalline bovine with photolytically generated carbonate radical and UVC. Beta crystalline also suffered oxidation, dimerization and aggregation. The major oxidation products characterized were hydroxy-tryptophan, N-formylkynurenine, DOPA and a beta crystalline dimer (βB2-Trp151-Trp151-βB2) by nano-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS. Irradiation with UVC light also led to the formation of an intra-chain dimer, which was characterized as βA2-Trp78-Trp81. When beta crystalline was irradiated with a solar simulator (UVA and UVB), it was also possible to observe a dimer which was characterized as βA2-Trp150-Trp150-βA2. The presence of oxidized tryptophan products, including the ditryptophan cross-link, was also evaluated in vivo in the lenses of patients submitted to cataract removal. Beta, alpha and gamma crystalline were the main proteins identified in soluble and insoluble fractions of the lenses. The main post translational modification identified was deamidation. A high content of oxidized methionine and tryptophan residues were identified in proteins present in the insoluble fraction. The main tryptophan oxidation products identified by nano-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS were kynurenine and N-formylkynurenine. The presence of covalent dimers in the lenses with cataract was demonstrated by mass analysis. Full MS/MS characterization of the dimers βB1-Trp127-Trp127-βB1 and βB1-Trp193-Trp193-βB1 confirmed that they were linked by a ditryptophan bond. In summary, our data demonstrate that the carbonate radical and UV light can produce ditryptophan dimers in different proteins. Also, the presence of the ditryptophan cross-link was first detected in vivo (human cataract).

Antibody microarrays constitute a next-generation sensing platform that has the potential to revolutionize the way that molecular detection is conducted in many scientific fields. Unfortunately, current technologies have not found mainstream use because of reliability problems that undermine trust in their results. Although several factors are involved, it is believed that undesirable protein interactions with the array surface are a fundamental source of problems where little detail about the molecular-level biophysics are known. A better understanding of antibody stability and antibody-antigen binding on the array surface is needed to improve microarray technology. Despite the availability of many laboratory methods for studying protein stability and binding, these methods either do not work when the protein is attached to a surface or they do not provide the atomistic structural information that is needed to better understand protein behavior on the surface. As a result, molecular simulation has emerged as the primary method for studying proteins on surfaces because it can provide metrics and views of atomistic structures and molecular motion. Using an advanced, coarse-grain, protein-surface model this study investigated how antibodies react to and function on different types of surfaces. Three topics were addressed: (1) the stability of individual antibodies on surfaces, (2) antibody binding to small antigens while on a surface, and (3) antibody binding to large antigens while on a surface. The results indicate that immobilizing antibodies or antibody fragments in an upright orientation on a hydrophilic surface can provide the molecules with thermal stability similar to their native aqueous stability, enhance antigen binding strength, and minimize the entropic cost of binding. Furthermore, the results indicate that it is more difficult for large antigens to approach the surface than small antigens, that multiple binding sites can aid antigen binding, and that antigen flexiblity simultaneously helps and hinders the binding process as it approaches the surface. The results provide hope that next-generation microarrays and other devices decorated with proteins can be improved through rational design.

L'assemblage des protéines est une problématique fondamentale d'intérêt pour différents secteurs (alimentaire, médical, pharmaceutique, etc.). La compréhension des mécanismes à l'origine des interactions initiales et des assemblages protéiques offre la possibilité de contrôler et d'orienter le processus de formation ainsi que la nature et les propriétés fonctionnelles des structures supramoléculaires résultantes. L'objectif de la thèse était d'acquérir de nouvelles connaissances à différentes échelles d'étude sur les mécanismes d'assemblages protéiques et les structures supramoléculaires dans un mélange protéique binaire incluant deux protéines globulaires de charge globale opposée à pH neutre : le lysozyme (LYS) et l'alpha-lactalbumine (alpha-LA). L'utilisation de techniques de fluorescence a permis de caractériser l'interaction moléculaire et la formation d'hétérodimères entre ces deux protéines aussi bien avec les formes chargée (holo alpha-LA) et déplétée (apo alpha-LA) en calcium de l'alpha-LA. La formation de ces hétérodimères s'effectue par la mise en œuvre d'interactions électrostatiques. Les propriétés d'assemblage de ces hétérodimères sont différentes et intimement liées à la stabilité de l'alpha-LA. Les hétérodimères LYS – holo alpha-LA ne semblent pas former de structures supramoléculaires, alors que les hétérodimères LYS – apo alpha-LA s'assemblent en agrégats ou en structures sphériques selon la conformation de l'apo alpha-LA. Une conformation de type « molten globule » de l'apo alpha-LA favorise la formation de microsphères. Ces dernières sont constituées de LYS et d'apo alpha-LA en quantité équimolaire qui sont parfaitement co-localisés au sein de la microstructure. Ce travail souligne le rôle clé joué par la conformation et la flexibilité des protéines dans la formation et l'orientation des assemblages entre protéines alimentaires.

Le développement de biomatériaux utilisant les propriétés d'auto-assemblage des protéines est au cœur de nombreuses recherches car les objets supramoléculaires résultants présentent un large potentiel applicatif pour les industries agroalimentaire, pharmaceutique et biotechnologique. La compréhension des forces gouvernant l'assemblage des protéines est essentielle pour contrôler la stabilité, la morphologie et les fonctionnalités des objets formés. Cette étude s'intéresse au système binaire composé de protéines de charges opposées : le lysozyme (LYS) et l'α-lactalbumine (LAC). Le lysozyme interagit avec les formes calcifiée (holo) et décalcifiée (apo) de l'α-lactalbumine pour former des hétérodimères. Seuls les hétérodimères apoLAC-LYS s'assemblent en objets supramoléculaires dont la morphologie dépend de la température. Lorsque l'apoLAC est dans sa conformation native (T< 26°C), des agrégats amorphes sont obtenus, alors que des objets sphériques ordonnés, appelés microsphères, sont obtenus lorsqu'elle adopte un état conformationnel particulièrement flexible, appelé " molten globule " (45°C). Pour comprendre comment l'information contenue à l'échelle moléculaire se propage à l'échelle microscopique, les objectifs de ma thèse étaient de caractériser les interactions impliquées à l'échelle moléculaire et d'établir le mécanisme d'assemblage. L'identification des acides aminés impliqués dans l'interface des hétérodimères a mis en évidence une orientation particulière des protéines gouvernée par des attractions électrostatiques et la formation de tétramères par associations des dimères apoLAC-LYS. La croissance de particules sub-micrométriques, à partir des nucléi formés par agrégation des tétramères, est indépendante de la température et est gouvernée par collision et fusion de particules plus petites. C'est au stade final du mécanisme, que l'état conformationnel de l'apoLAC joue un rôle important. En effet, la coalescence des particules et la réorganisation des protéines en microsphères sont favorisées par la flexibilité du " molten globule " et impliquent probablement des associations hydrophobes. Enfin, la formation de microsphères n'implique pas de changements importants de structure secondaire des protéines assemblées, ce qui explique la réversibilité des objets formés et le dynamisme des protéines assemblées. L'approche mise en œuvre pour réaliser ce travail peut être utilisée pour étudier l'assemblage d'autres systèmes protéiques binaires et les éléments fondamentaux apportés permettent d'envisager des applications potentielles des microsphères.

Transgenic plant systems have been proposed as bioreactors in the production of pharmaceutical and industrial proteins. The economic benefits of inexpensive plant production systems could be erased if the downstream processing ends up being expensive. To avoid monoclonal antibody (mAb) modification or fouling of chromatography resins, removal of phenolics from plant extracts is desirable. Removal of major phenolics in Lemna extracts was evaluated by adsorption to PVPP, XAD-4, IRA-402 and Q-Sepharose resins. Analysis of phenolics adsorption to XAD-4, IRA-402 and Q-Sepharose showed superior dynamic binding capacities at pH 4.5 than at 7.5. The economic analysis using SuperPro Designer 7.0 indicated that addition of a phenolics adsorption step would increase mAb production cost only 20% by using IRA-402 compared to 35% for XAD-4 resin. The overall mAb processing cost can be reduced by implementing a phenolics removal step. To understand phenolics-resin interactions, adsorption isotherms of phenolic compounds (chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, rutin, syringic acid and vitexin-2-O-rhamnoside) from different phenolic classes on three resins (IRA-402, PVPP, XAD-4) at pH 4.5 and 7.5 were determined. Differences in adsorption with the type of phenolics were observed, and PVPP was not efficient for phenolics removal. Screening of sugarcane lines for bovine lysozyme (BvLz) accumulation indicated that expression levels are still inadequate for commercial development. To maximize BvLz extraction, pH and ionic strength were evaluated; five conditions resulted in equivalent BvLz/TSP ratio. Membrane filtration process using BvLz extracts attained partial removal of native proteins by the 100 kDa membrane step, but also BvLz loss (21-29%). Regardless of the extraction condition, at least 47% of the starting BvLz was lost during the membrane processing. None of the evaluated extraction conditions caused a substantial recovery of BvLz in the concentrate. Alternative purification options for the IEX+HIC process, which achieved 95% BvLz purity, were tested. Direct loading of sugarcane extract concentrate on HIC and XAD-4 pretreatment of juice did not recovered BvLz as effectively as the IEX chromatography. Pure BvLz was obtained by the XAD+HIC process, but higher purification fold and HIC yield were achieved by the IEX+HIC process, due to the complete separation of BvLz and 18-kDa protein.

Plants are potential sources of valuable recombinant and native proteins that can be purified for pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and food applications. Transgenic rice and corn germ were evaluated for the production of novel protein products. This dissertation addresses: 1) the extraction and purification of the recombinant protein, human lysozyme (HuLZ), from transgenic rice and 2) the processing of dry-milled corn germ for the production of high protein germ and corn protein concentrate (CPC). The factors affecting the extraction and purification of HuLZ from rice were evaluated. Ionic strength and pH was used to optimize HuLZ extraction and cation exchange purification. The selected conditions, pH 4.5 with 50 mM NaCl, were a compromise between HuLZ extractability and binding capacity, resulting in 90% purity. Process simulation was used to assess the HuLZ purification efficiency and showed that the processing costs were comparable to native lysozyme purification from egg-white, the current predominant lysozyme source. Higher purity HuLZ (95%) could be achieved using pH 4.5 extraction followed by pH 6 adsorption, but the binding capacity was unexpectedly reduced by 80%. The rice impurity, phytic acid, was identified as the potential cause of the unacceptably low capacity. Enzymatic (phytase) treatment prior to adsorption improved purification, implicating phytic acid as the primary culprit. Two processing methods were proposed to reduce this interference: 1) pH 10 extraction followed by pH 4.5 precipitation and pH 6 adsorption and 2) pH 4.5 extraction and pH 6 adsorption in the presence of TRIS counter-ions. Both methods improved the binding capacity from 8.6 mg/mL to >25 mg/mL and maintained HuLZ purity. Processing of dry-milled corn germ to increase protein and oil content was evaluated using germ wet milling. In this novel method, dry-milled germ is soaked and wet processed to produce higher value protein products. Lab-scale and pilot-scale experiments identified soaking conditions that reduced germ starch content, enhanced protein and oil content, and maintained germ PDI (protein dispersibility index). Soaking at neutral pH and 25 degrees C maintained germ PDI and improved CPC yield from defatted germ flour. CPC with greater than 75% protein purity was produced using protein precipitation or membrane filtration.

Reproduction de : Habilitation à diriger des recherches : Sciences physiques. Physique : Lille 1 : 2006. / N° d'ordre (Lille 1) : 551. Articles en anglais reproduits et intégrés au texte. Titre provenant de la page de titre du document numérisé. Bibliogr. p. 61-66 et bibliogr. des articles. Liste des publications et communications.

A transição sol-gel de lisozima dispersa em tetrametiluréia/água foi investigada em profundidade. Tais dispersões geraram sistemas de alta viscosidade que evoluíram para a formação de géis ?físicos?, i.e., sistemas de redes viscoelásticas mantidas por interações do tipo forças de van der Walls e ligações de hidrogênio. O enfoque deste trabalho foi dividido em duas frentes: a) estudo do sistema lisozima nas misturas binárias; b) estudo das misturas binárias indutoras do efeito de gelificação na ausência da proteína. Realizou-se um estudo cinético e dinâmico das dispersões e géis por meio de experimentos reológicos, espectroscópicos e calorimétricos. A partir dos resultados reológicos procurou-se correlacionar as propriedades mecânicas macroscópicas dos géis com suas propriedades microscópicas, tendo sido possível estabelecer o caráter fractal dos agregados formados. Os estudos espectroscópicos no infravermelho permitiram acompanhar mudanças estruturais da proteína durante o processo de gelificação, revelando o efeito do meio na estruturação secundária da lisozima. Observou-se que a mistura binária tende a causar um aumento de conteúdo de folhas b na proteína quando acima da concentração crítica de fração de massa de tetrametiluréia em água (wTMU > 0,6), com uma concomitante redução no teor de hélices alfa. Estudos calorimétricos revelaram uma dependência inversamente linear das entalpias e temperaturas de denaturação da lisozima com a concentração do co-solvente orgânico no sistema, observando-se ausência de qualquer evento térmico na região acima da concentração crítica do solvente misto. Com a finalidade de se sondar as características dinâmicas e estruturais das misturas binárias responsáveis pela indução do efeito de gelificação em lisozima, foram realizados estudos solvatocrômicos envolvendo as misturas binárias tetrametiluréia/co-solvente, em que os co-solventes ensaiados foram água e alguns álcoois. A comparação entre o efeito solvatocrômico das misturas TMU/água e TMU/álcool permitiu verificar o caráter estruturador da TMU em meio aquoso e seu efeito desestruturador nos meios alcoólicos. / Lysozyme sol-gel transition in tetramethylurea/water was investigated in depth. These dispersions produced highly viscous systems, which evolved to physical gels, i.e., systems where the gel backbone is maintained by van der Walls forces and hydrogen bonding. The work was conducted in two fronts: a) the study of lysozyme dispersions in binary mixtures; b) the study of the binary mixtures themselves. A kinetics and dynamical characterization of the dispersions and gels was undertaken by means of rheological, spectroscopic and calorimetric assays. In the light of the rheological data, correlations were proposed between the gel mechanical macroscopic behaviour and its microscopic properties. The fractal character of the gels was established and their dimensionality calculated. Infrared spectroscopic experiments revealed changes in the protein secondary structure during and well after the sol-gel transition induced by the binary solvent mixture. It was found that the binary mixture induces an increase in the b-sheet content with a concomitant reduction of the a-helix, when above its critical concentration, as expressed in mass fraction of tetramethylurea in the binary mixture (wTMU >0.6). Calorimetric studies revealed that both denaturation temperature and enthalpy decrease linearly with the increase of TMU mass fraction in the mixed solvent, with no thermal effect being noticed above the binary mixture critical concentration. In order to investigate the dynamic and structural characteristics of the binary mixtures responsible for lysozyme sol-gel transition, solvatochromic assays were carried out for several TMU/co-solvent systems, where the co-solvents assayed were water and a few alcohols. Results revealed that TMU has structure-maker behaviour in water and structure-breaker behaviour in alcohol systems.