A search for agents, which are capable of effectively suppressing protein aggregation, and elaboration of the appropriate test systems, are among important problems of modern biochemistry and biotechnology. One such test system is based on dithiothreitol (DTT)-induced aggregation of bovine serum albumin (BSA). Study of the kinetics of DTT-induced aggregation of BSA by asymmetric flow field flow fractionation showed that a decrease in the portion of the non-aggregated protein in time followed the exponential law, the rate constant of the first order remaining unchanged at varying protein concentration (0.1M Na-phosphate buffer, pH 7.0; 45 °C). The obtained results indicate that the rate-limiting stage of the general aggregation process is that of unfolding of the protein molecule. When studying the kinetics of DTT-induced aggregation of BSA by dynamic light scattering, we proposed to use parameter K(LS) as a measure of the initial rate of aggregation. Parameter K(LS) corresponds to the initial slope of the dependence of (I-I0)(0.5) on time (I0 and I are the initial and current values of the light scattering intensity, respectively). The K(LS) value has been applied to estimate anti-aggregation activity of chemical chaperones (arginine, its derivatives and proline).
Keywords: Aggregation kinetics; Arginine; Bovine serum albumin; Dithiothreitol.
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