Starch is a major carbon and energy source throughout all kingdoms of life. It consists of two carbohydrate polymers, branched amylopectin and linear amylose, which are sparingly soluble in water. Hence, the enzymatic breakdown by glycoside hydrolases (GHs) is of great biological and societal importance. Amylomaltases (AMs) are GHs specialized in the hydrolysis of a-1,4–linked sugar chains such as amylose. They are able to catalyze an intramolecular transglycosylation of a bound sugar chain yielding polymeric sugar rings, the cycloamyloses (CAs), consisting of 20 to 100 glucose units. Despite a wealth of data on short oligosaccharide binding to GHs, no structural evidence is available for their interaction with polymeric substrates that better represent the natural polysaccharide. We have determined the crystal structure of Thermus aquaticus AM in complex with a 34-meric CA—one of the largest carbohydrates resolved by x-ray crystallography and a mimic of the natural polymeric amylose substrate. In total, 15 glucose residues interact with the protein in an extended crevice with a length of more than 40 Å. A modified succinimide, derived from aspartate, mediates protein-sugar interactions, suggesting a biological role for this nonstandard amino acid. The structure, together with functional assays, provides unique insights into the interaction of GHs with their polymeric substrate and reveals a molecular ruler mechanism for minimal ring-size determination of CA products.

The E. coli maltose binding protein (MBP) has been utilized as a translational fusion partner to improve the expression of foreign proteins made in E. coli. When located N -terminal to its cargo protein, MBP increases the solubility of intracellular proteins and improves the export of secreted proteins in bacterial systems. We initially explored whether MBP would have the same effect in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris , a popular eukaryotic host for heterologous protein expression. When MBP was fused as an N -terminal partner to several C -terminal cargo proteins expressed in this yeast, proteolysis occurred between the two peptides, and MBP reached the extracellular region unattached to its cargo. However, in two of three instances, the cargo protein reached the extracellular region as well, and its initial attachment to MBP enhanced its secretion from the cell. Extensive mutagenesis of the spacer region between MBP and its C -terminal cargo protein could not inhibit the cleavage although it did cause changes in the protease target sites in the fusion proteins, as determined by mass spectrometry. Taken together, these results suggested that an uncharacterized P. pastoris protease attacked at different locations in the region C -terminal of the MBP domain, including the spacer and cargo regions, but the MEP domain could still act to enhance the secretion of certain cargo proteins. The attempt to identify the unknown protease was unsuccessful. However, in contrast to other fusion partners, MBP was secreted with the cargo when it was fused as a C -terminal peptide to an N -terminal cargo protein. These studies provide insights into the role of proteases and fusion partners in the secretory mechanism of P. pastoris , suggesting new strategies to optimize this expression system.

Submitted by Izabel Franco (izabel-franco@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-21T14:30:40Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRASac.pdf: 11251604 bytes, checksum: 6c180d000983f8c0f5a08597c2d53676 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-27T20:04:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRASac.pdf: 11251604 bytes, checksum: 6c180d000983f8c0f5a08597c2d53676 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-27T20:04:24Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRASac.pdf: 11251604 bytes, checksum: 6c180d000983f8c0f5a08597c2d53676 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-27T20:10:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRASac.pdf: 11251604 bytes, checksum: 6c180d000983f8c0f5a08597c2d53676 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-31 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Cassava is cultivated worldwide, being Brazil the fourth largest producer. The root industrial processing in the country, aiming to obtain mainly flour and starch, generates carbohydrate-rich residues (e.g., starch, cellulose, and hemicellulose), which could be used to produce value-added products by enzymatic route, mainly using immobilized enzymes that are more operationally stable, allowing to be easily recovered and reused in the process. Thus, this work aimed the biotransformation of residual starch from cassava processing in maltose, using immobilized β-amylase in a Couette–Taylor–Poiseuille vortex flow reactor, which can promote perfect mixture under lower shear stress in the reactional medium compared to the conventional stirred-tank reactor. Cassava bagasse and peel of two starch-processing industries from São Paulo State were physicalchemically characterized and showed about 47% and 55% (dry mass) of residual starch, respectively. The starch was enzymatically extracted from the residues using a α- amylase, followed by maltose production catalyzed by immobilized barley β-amylase. Among the immobilization methods studied in this work, the best one for β-amylase was protein aggregation using bovine serum albumin (BSA) or soybean protein (PS) as protein feeder, followed by cross-linking with glutaraldehyde (CLEA technique). This protocol yielded immobilized β-amylase with 82.67% and 53.26% of recovered activity, respectively. Besides, the CLEAs were highly stables at 40oC, retaining more than 80% of the initial activity after 12 hours. The maltose syrup production from starch was performed using a Couette–Taylor–Poiseuille vortex flow reactor, in order to evaluate the β-amylase CLEAs (in this case CLEA of β-amylase prepared with soybean protein, here named CLEA-β-PS). It was achieved around 70% of maltose conversion in a short reaction time (4 hours), showing that is viable the use of residual starch as raw material for the production of maltose catalyzed by β-amylase CLEA in a Couette–Taylor– Poiseuille vortex flow reactor. / A mandioca é cultivada em todo mundo, sendo o Brasil o quarto maior produtor. O processamento industrial da raiz no país visa principalmente à produção de farinha e fécula, gerando resíduos ricos em carboidratos (amido, celulose, hemicelulose) que poderiam gerar produtos de valor agregado por biocatálise enzimática, particularmente usando enzimas imobilizadas, por serem mais estáveis operacionalmente e poderem ser facilmente recuperadas e reutilizadas no processo. Assim, este trabalho teve como objetivo a biotransformação do amido residual dos resíduos do processamento da mandioca em maltose, usando a enzima β-amilase imobilizada em reator de fluxo em vórtices (RFV) Couette–Taylor–Poiseuille, reator este que pode promover mistura perfeita com menor tensão cisalhante no meio reacional, comparado a um reator de mistura perfeita convencional. Os resíduos bagaço e casca de mandioca de duas fecularias do interior de São Paulo foram caracterizados físico-quimicamente e apresentaram teores de amido por volta de 47% e 55% (b.s.), respectivamente. A extração do amido dos resíduos foi realizada enzimaticamente utilizando uma α-amilase, então, o amido liquefeito foi utilizado na produção de maltose catalisada pela β-amilase de cevada imobilizada. Dentre os métodos de imobilização estudados, o mais satisfatório para a imobilização de β-amilase foi a reticulação de enzimas agregadas (CLEA), utilizando albumina de soro bovino (BSA) ou proteína de soja (PS) como proteínas inertes, retendo 82,67% e 53,26% da atividade oferecida, respectivamente. Os CLEAs apresentaram estabilidades ao pH ligeiramente maiores que a β-amilase livre em seus respectivos valores de pH mais estáveis. Além disso, os CLEAs foram muito estáveis a 40ºC, retendo mais de 80% da atividade inicial após 12 horas de encubação. A conversão do amido em maltose foi realizada em um RFV, com a finalidade de estudar seu comportamento frente aos CLEAs de β-amilase (neste estudo CLEA de β-amilase preparado na presença de proteína de soja, aqui nomeado CLEA-β-PS). A conversão de amido em maltose foi de aproximadamente 70% em curto tempo de reação (4 horas), demonstrando a viabilidade do uso de amido residual como matéria-prima para a produção de maltose catalisada por CLEA de β-amilase em reator de fluxo em vórtices de Couette–Taylor–Poiseuille. Palavras chave: resíduos de mandioca, amido, maltose, beta-amilase de cevada, imobilização enzimática, CLEA, reator de fluxo em vórtices.

Kinesins are molecular motors that transport intracellular cargos along microtubules (MTs) and influence the organization and dynamics of the MT cytoskeleton. Their force-generating functions arise from conformational changes in their motor domain as ATP is bound and hydrolyzed, and products are released. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the Kar3 kinesin forms heterodimers with one of two non-catalytic kinesin-like proteins, Cik1 and Vik1, which lack the ability to bind ATP, and yet they retain the capacity to bind MTs. Cik1 and Vik1 also influence and respond to the MT-binding and nucleotide states of Kar3, and differentially regulate the functions of Kar3 during yeast mating and mitosis. The mechanism by which Kar3/Cik1 and Kar3/Vik1 dimers operate remains unknown, but has important implications for understanding mechanical coordination between subunits of motor complexes that traverse cytoskeletal tracks. In this study, we show that the opportunistic human fungal pathogen Candida albicans (Ca) harbors a single version of this unique form of heterodimeric kinesin and we present the first in vitro characterization of this motor. Like its budding yeast counterpart, the Vik1-like subunit binds directly to MTs and strengthens the MT-binding affinity of the heterodimer. However, in contrast to ScKar3/Cik1 and ScKar3/Vik1, CaKar3/Vik1 exhibits weaker overall MT-binding affinity and lower ATPase activity. Preliminary investigations using a multiple motor motility assay indicate CaKar3/Vik1 may not be motile. Using a maltose binding protein tagging system, we determined the X-ray crystal structure of the CaKar3 motor domain and observed notable differences in its nucleotide-binding pocket relative to ScKar3 that appear to represent a previously unobserved state of the active site. Together, these studies broaden our knowledge of novel kinesin motor assemblies and shed new light on structurally dynamic regions of Kar3/Vik1-like motor complexes that help mediate mechanical coordination of its subunits. / Thesis (Master, Biochemistry) -- Queen's University, 2012-02-29 17:15:03.654

No description available.

La levure Saccharomyces cerevisiae est capable d’utiliser une grande variété de sucres comme source de carbone et d’énergie. La plupart des enzymes impliquées dans l’utilisation de ces sucres sont codées par des gènes issus de familles multigéniques. C’est le cas de la famille IMA identifiée comme impliquée dans l’utilisation de l’isomaltose. Cette famille comprend cinq gènes qui codent pour quatre isomaltases partageant une forte identité de séquence (de 65% à 100 %). Dans ce travail , la diversitéfonctionnelle de la famille IMA a été étudiée, en caractérisant de façon exhaustive in vitro leurs propriétés biochimiques et enzymologiques. Ima1p et Ima2p possèdent des propriétés biochimiques identiques (pH, température, et thermostabilité) mais Ima3p se distingue par rapport à ces deux protéines bien que n’ayant que trois acides de différence avec Ima2p (thermostabilité plus faible). Ima5p quant à elle, est la protéine la plus dissemblable (température optimale plus faible et demi-vie basse dès 37°C). Les quatre isomaltases sont cependant très sensibles au Tris et aux ions Fe3+. Les quatre isoenzymes présentent une préférence pour les disaccharides liés en α-1,6 (isomaltose et palatinose), avec une cinétique de type Michaëlis-Menten et une inhibition par le substrat à une concentration élevée. Les isomaltases Imap sont cependant aussi capables d'hydrolyser les disaccharides α-1,2, α-1,3 et α-1,5 ainsi que les trisaccharides portant une liaison α-1,6, ce qui met en évidence leur ambiguïté de substrat .Nos résultats ont toutefois montré de nombreuses singularités dans cette famille de protéines. Alors que Ima1p et Ima2p présentent des propriétés très semblables, l’activité catalytique de Ima3p est globalement très faible malgré sa forte ressemblance avec Ima2p. Le variant Ima3p_R279Q retrouve des niveaux d'activité proches de ceux d’Ima2p, tandis que la substitution d’une leucine par une proline à la position 240 a permis d’augmenter de manière significative la stabilité d’Ima3p confirmant le rôle des prolines dans la thermostabilité des protéines. L’hydrolyse de l’isomaltose par Ima5p réfute lesconclusions précédemment publiées sur l'exigence d'acides aminés spécifiques pour déterminer la spécificité de α-1,6 puisque le variant IMA5-MQH ne permet pas de restaurer une activité semblable à Ima1p malgré la présence des trois résidus MQH. Nous avons également trouvé qu’Ima5p est inhibé par le maltose suivant une inhibition mixte tandis qu’Ima1p est inhibée de façon compétitive à faible concentration et de manière incompétitive à forte concentration en isomaltose / Most enzymatic systems for sugar uptake and assimilation rely on multigene families in theyeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The IMA / MAL family has been used as a model system to study themolecular mechanisms that govern evolution of duplicated genes. The five IMA multigene familymembers encode four isomaltases sharing high sequence identity from 65% to 99%, of which IMA3and IMA4 are 100% identical to encode the same isomaltase. In this work, the functional diversity ofIMA family was further explored, with exhaustive in-vitro characterization of their biochemical andenzymological properties.Ima1p and Ima2p were similar to biochemical properties; Ima3p showed some differences fromthe two proteins; amongst them, Ima5p was the most distant protein. The four isomaltases were highlysensitive to Tris and Fe3+, but were unaffected by the addition or the removal of Ca2+ despiteconservation of the calcium binding site. Besides, four isoenzymes exhibited a preference for the α-(1,6)disaccharides isomaltose and palatinose, with Michaelis-Menten kinetics and inhibition at highsubstrates concentration. They were also able to hydrolyse trisaccharides bearing an α-(1,6) linkage,but also α-(1,2), α-(1,3) and α-(1,5) disaccharides including sucrose, highlighting their substrateambiguity. While Ima1p and Ima2p presented almost identical characteristics, the results neverthelessshowed many singularities within this protein family. In particular, Ima3p presented lower activitiesthan Ima2p despite only 3 different amino acids between these two isoforms. The Ima3p_R279Qvariant recovered activity levels of Ima2p, while the Leu-to-Pro substitution at position 240significantly increased the stability of Ima3p and supported the role of prolines inthermostability.Ima5p presented the lower optimal temperature and was also extremely sensitive to temperature. Isomaltose hydrolysis by Ima5p challenged previous conclusions about the requirement of specificamino acids for determining the specificity for α-(1,6) substrates. We finally found a mixed inhibitionby maltose for Ima5p while, contrary to a previous work, Ima1p inhibition by maltose was competitiveat very low isomaltose concentrations and uncompetitive as the substrate concentration increased.The presented Ph.D’s work provided preliminary insights into determining structural factorswithin this family, exemplifying for example the role of proline residues for thermosability. Moreover,it was illustrated that a gene family encoding proteins with strong sequence similarities can lead toenzyme with notable differences in biochemical and enzymological properties.

Acarbose hat als Inhibitor von Hydrolasen alpha-1,4-glykosidischer Bindungen medizinische Bedeutung. Das Acarbose-Biosynthese-Gencluster (acb) des grampositiven Produzenten Actinoplanes sp. wurde identifiziert und Genprodukte z. T. charakterisiert. Das Modell zum Acarbose-Metabolismus beschreibt einen Acarbosekreislauf, bei dem das Pseudotetrasaccharid als Carbophor fungiert. Das Molekül wird in das umgebende Medium abgegeben und durch das Zusammenwirken zweier extrazellulärer Enzyme nach Stärkehydrolyse mit einer unterschiedlichen Anzahl an Glukosemonomeren beladen. Nach dem vermuteten Re-Import über ein Bindeprotein-abhängiges ABC-Transportsystem AcbHFG stünde dem Organismus dann ein Gewinn an Glukosemolekülen zur Verfügung. Neben diesem Vorteil gegenüber Nahrungskonkurrenten im Habitat fungiert Acarbose ebenso als Hemmer der artfremden extrazellulären a-Amylasen. Die ökologische Funktion des Pseudotetrasaccharids wurde durch Untersuchungen zum Einfluss auf den Maltodextrin-Stoffwechsel von E. coli verifiziert und ausgeweitet. Es lässt sich ein ökonomisch sinnvolleres Konkurrenzverhalten von Actinoplanes sp. ableiten. Von den durch den Acarboseproduzenten selbst bereitgestellten Maltosacchariden aus Stärke profitieren artfremde Mikroorganismen nicht, da neben den Exoenzymen auch die Maltodextrin-Aufnahmesysteme in ihrer Funktion gehemmt sind. Außerdem wurde eine für Actinoplanes sp. geforderte Kapazität zur Aufnahme von Maltose und Maltodextrinen in vivo gefunden und in Transportexperimenten mit radioaktiv markierten Zuckern charakterisiert. Die Transportaktivität wird wahrscheinlich über zwei Bindeprotein-abhängige ABC-Importer mit multiplem Substratspektrum realisiert. Das ABC-Importsystem AcbHFG wurde heterolog in E. coli und S. lividans synthetisiert und z. T. erfolgreich gereinigt. In Substrat-Bindungsstudien konnte für das Bindeprotein AcbH eine Interaktion mit Acarbose und längerkettigen Derivaten, nicht jedoch mit Maltose/Maltodextrinen beobachtet werden. / Acarbose acts as an inhibitor of alpha-glucosidases and is therefore clinically used. The biosynthesis gene cluster (acb) was identified and partly characterized. The proposed model describes a pathway in which acarbose might function as a carbophor. The molecule is secreted into the medium where, after hydrolysis of starch, it is charged with additional glucose moieties. Re-uptake by a binding-protein dependent ABC importer AcbHFG would then result in a net gain of carbon and energy. Besides extracting glucose from the extracellular pool acarbose also acts as an inhibitor of alpha-amylases secreted by competitors in the natural environment. Prompted by the structural similarity between acarbose and maltotetraose, the effects of acarbose on the metabolism of maltose and maltodextrins in whole cells of E. coli and on individual components of the maltose / maltodextrin system were studied. The results demonstrate that acarbose is efficiently transported but not metabolized by E. coli due to its poor performance as a substrate of maltodextrin-degrading enzymes. Thus, besides acting as a carbophor acarbose also severely inhibits growth of competitors on maltodextrins. Actinoplanes using starch as carbon source should be able to import maltose and maltodextrins. Experiments with radioactive sugars indicate the action of two different binding-protein dependent ABC transport systems with a multiple substrate spectrum. Within the acb cluster a putative operon (acbHFG) encoding components of an ABC import system was found. To elucidate gene functions the products were overproduced in E. coli and S. lividans and some of the proteins were purified. Surface plasmon resonance analysis showed that the substrate binding protein AcbH binds acarbose and longer derivatives, but not maltose and maltodextrins.

Native states of globular proteins typically show stabilization in the range of 5 to 15 kcal/mol with respect to their unfolded states. There has been a considerable progress in the area of protein stability and folding in recent years, but increasing protein stability through rationally designed mutations has remained a challenging task. Current ability to predict protein structure from the amino acid sequence is also limited due to the lack of quantitative understanding of various factors that defines the single lowest energy fold or native state. The most important factors, which are considered primarily responsible for the structure and stability of the biological active form of proteins, are hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions such as salt bridges as well as packing interactions. Several studies have been carried out to decipher the importance of each these factors in protein stability and structure via rationally designed mutant proteins. The limited success of previous studies emphasizes the need for comprehensive studies on various aspect of protein stability. An integrated approach involving thermodynamic and structural analysis of a protein is very useful in understanding this particular phenomenon. This approach is very useful in relating the thermodynamic stability with the structure of a protein. A survey of the current literature on thermodynamic stability of protein indicates that the majority of the model proteins which have been used for understanding the determinants of protein stability are small, monomeric, single domain globular proteins like RNase A, Lysozyme and Myoglobin. On the other hand large proteins often show complex unfolding transition profiles that are rarely reversible. The major part of this thesis is focused on studying potential stabilizing/destabilizing interactions in small and large globular proteins. These interactions have been identified and characterized by exploring the effects of various rationally designed mutations on protein stability. Spectroscopic, molecular biological and calorimetric techniques were employed to understand the relationships between protein sequence, structure and stability. The experimental systems used are Leucine binding proteins, Leucine isoleucine valine binding protein (LIVBP), Maltose binding protein (MBP), Ribose binding protein (RBP) and Thioredoxin (Trx). The last section of the thesis discusses thermodynamic properties of molten globule states of the periplasmic protein LBP, LIVBP, MBP and RBP. The amino acid Pro is unique among all the twenty naturally occurring amino acids. In the case of proline, the Cδ of the side chain is covalently linked with the main chain nitrogen atom in a five membered ring. Therefore, Pro lacks amide hydrogen and it is not able to form a main chain hydrogen bond with a carbonyl oxygen. Hence Pro is typically not found in the hydrogen bonded, interior region of α-helix. There have been several studies which showed that introduction of the Pro residue into the interior of an α-helix is destabilizing. Although, it is not common to find Pro residue in the interiors of an α-helix, it has been reported that it occurs with appreciable frequency (14%). The thermodynamic effects of replacements of Pro residue in helix interiors of MBP were investigated in Chapter 2 of this thesis. Unlike many other small proteins, MBP contains 21 Pro residues distributed throughout the structure. It contains three residues in the interiors of α-helices, at positions 48, 133 and 159. These Pro residues were replaced with an alanine and serine amino acids using site directed mutagenesis. Stabilities of all the mutant and wild type proteins have been studied via isothermal chemical denaturation at pH 7.4 and thermal denaturation as a function of pH ranging from pH 6.5 to 10.4. It has been observed that replacement of a proline residue in the middle of an α-helix does not always stabilize a protein. It can be stabilizing if the carbonyl oxygen of residue (i-3) or (i-4) is well positioned to form a hydrogen bond with the ith (mutated) residue and the position of mutation is not buried or conserved in the protein. Partially exposed position have the ability to form main chain hydrogen bonds and Ala seems to be a better choice to substitute Pro than Ser. Unlike other amino acids, the pyrolidine ring of Pro residue imposes rigid constraints on the rotation about the N---Cα bond in the peptide backbone. This causes conformational restriction of the φ dihedral angle of Pro to -63±15º in polypeptides. Therefore, introduction of a rigid Pro residue into an appropriate position in a protein sequence is expected to decrease the conformational entropy of the denatured state and consequently lead to protein stabilization. In Chapter 3 of this thesis, the thermodynamic effects of Pro introduction on protein stability has been investigated in LIVBP, MBP, RBP and Trx. Thirteen single and two double mutants have been generated in the above four proteins. Three of the MBP mutants were characterized by X-ray crystallography to confirm that no structural changes had occurred upon mutation. In the remaining cases, CD spectroscopy was used to show the absence of structural changes. Stability of all the mutant and wild type proteins was studied via isothermal chemical denaturation at neutral pH and thermal denaturation as a function of pH. The mutants did not show enhanced stability with respect to chemical denaturation at room temperature. However, six of the thirteen single mutants showed a small but significant increase in the free energy of thermal unfolding in the range of 0.3-2.4 kcal/mol, two mutants showed no change and five were destabilized. In five of the six cases, the stabilization was because of a reduced entropy of unfolding. Two double mutants were constructed. In both cases, the effects of the single mutations on the free energy of thermal unfolding were non-additive. In addition to the hydrogen bond, hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions, other interactions like cation-π and aromatic-aromatic interactions etc. are also considered to make important contributions to protein stability. The relevance of cation-π interaction in biological systems has been recognized in recent years. It has been reported that positively charged amino acids (Lys, Arg and His) are often located within 6 Å of the ring centroids of aromatic amino acids (Phe, Tyr and Trp). The importance of cation-π interaction in protein stability has been suggested by previous theoretical and experimental studies. We have attempted to determine the magnitude of cation-π interactions of Lys with aromatic amino acids in four different proteins (LIVBP, MBP, RBP and Trx) in Chapter 4 of the thesis. Cation-π pairs have been identified by using the program CaPTURE. We have found thirteen cation-π pairs in five different proteins (PDB ID’s 2liv, 1omp, 1anf, 1urp and 2trx). Five cation-π pairs were selected for the study. In each pair, Lys was replaced with Gln and Met. In a separate series of experiments, the aromatic amino acid in each cation-π pair was replaced by Leu. Stabilities of wild type (WT) and mutant proteins were characterized by similar methods, to those discussed in previous chapters. Gln and Aromatic → Leu mutants were consistently less stable than the corresponding Met mutants reflecting the non-isosteric nature of these substitutions. The strength of the cation-π interaction was assessed by the value of the change in the free energy of unfolding (ΔΔG0=ΔG0 (Met) - ΔG0(WT)). This ranged from +1.1 to –1.9 kcal/mol (average value – 0.4 kcal/mol) at 298 K and +0.7 to –2.6 kcal/mol (average value –1.1 kcal/mol) at the Tm of each WT. It therefore appears that the strength of cation-π interactions increases with temperature. In addition, the experimentally measured values are appreciably smaller in magnitude than the calculated values with an average difference |ΔG0expt -ΔG0calc|avg of 2.9 kcal/mol. At room temperature, the data indicate that cation-π interactions are at best weakly stabilizing and in some cases are clearly destabilizing. However at elevated temperatures, close to typical Tm’s, cation-π interactions are generally stabilizing. In Chapter 5, we have attempted to characterize molten globule states for the periplasmic proteins LBP, LIVBP, MBP and RBP. It was observed that all these proteins form molten globule states at acidic pH (3 - 3.4). All these molten globule states showed cooperative thermal transitions and bound with their ligand comparable to (LBP and LIVBP) or with lower (MBP and RBP) affinity than the corresponding native states. Trp, ANS fluorescence and near-UV CD spectra for ligand bound and free forms of molten globule states were found to be very similar. This shows that molten globule states of these proteins have the ability to bind to their corresponding ligand without conversion to the native state. All four molten globule states showed destabilization relative to the native state. ΔCp values indicate that these molten globule states contain approximately 29-67% of tertiary structure relative to the native state. All four proteins lack prosthetic groups and disulfide bonds. Therefore, it is likely that molten globule states of these proteins are stabilized via hydrophobic and hydrogen bonding interactions.

Establishing highly sophisticated polymer films for delivery systems in a biological environment and bioanalytical tasks, the formation, thickness, swelling behavior, and (physiological) stability of highly biocompatible polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) are described. These PEMs are composed of the very weak polycation maltose-modified hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI-Mal), strongly polyanion heparin sodium salt (HE − Na +) or weakly charged polyanion hyaluronic acid sodium salt (HA-Na+) deposited on Si wafer substrates. Two different glyco architectures for PEI-Mal are used, characterized by two different degrees of maltose decoration on a PEI scaffold. Using three pH-dependent deposition approaches for optimizing the (physiological) PEM stability and swelling, PEMs are characterized by (in situ) ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and (in situ) attenuated total reflection-Fouriertransform infrared (ATR-FTIR). Thus, PEMs reveal significantly different thicknesses, growth mechanisms (linear versus exponential), and swelling behavior in dependence of both the polycation architectures and the deposition protocol. These PEMs will allow the study of their complexation and release properties as preswollen PEMs against anionic drug molecules, adenosine triphosphate sodium salt (ATP), especially under physiological conditions for future drug delivery coatings.

Establishing highly sophisticated polymer films for delivery systems in a biological environment and bioanalytical tasks, the formation, thickness, swelling behavior, and (physiological) stability of highly biocompatible polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) are described. These PEMs are composed of the very weak polycation maltose-modified hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI-Mal), strongly polyanion heparin sodium salt (HE − Na +) or weakly charged polyanion hyaluronic acid sodium salt (HA-Na+) deposited on Si wafer substrates. Two different glyco architectures for PEI-Mal are used, characterized by two different degrees of maltose decoration on a PEI scaffold. Using three pH-dependent deposition approaches for optimizing the (physiological) PEM stability and swelling, PEMs are characterized by (in situ) ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and (in situ) attenuated total reflection-Fouriertransform infrared (ATR-FTIR). Thus, PEMs reveal significantly different thicknesses, growth mechanisms (linear versus exponential), and swelling behavior in dependence of both the polycation architectures and the deposition protocol. These PEMs will allow the study of their complexation and release properties as preswollen PEMs against anionic drug molecules, adenosine triphosphate sodium salt (ATP), especially under physiological conditions for future drug delivery coatings.