Properties of concentrated macromolecular solutions

Minton, Allen P.

Abstract

1. The viscometer/rheometer described in last year's report has been used to measure the concentration-dependent viscosity of three proteins - BSA, ovomucoid, and fibrinogen - individually, in binary mixtures, and in ternary mixtures. A semi-empirical relation requiring the specification of only two parameters per protein has been found to account quantitatively for the viscosity of individual proteins and mixtures at all concentrations up to 300 g/l to within experimental precision. (A. Grupi &A. Minton) 2. A compact yet extremely precise representation of the radial distribution function of hard sphere fluids and square well fluids has been discovered. This representation will be used to test semiempirical models of the colligative properties of such fluids (T. Hoppe) 3. A compact yet accurate method for coarse-graining electrostatic interactions between proteins has been developed. The novel coarse-graining algorithms will enable Monte Carlo and Brownian Dynamic simulations of the properties of concentrated proteins to be undertaken over a broad range of pH and ionic strength. (T. Hoppe)

Funding Agency

• Agency: National Institute of Health (NIH)
• Institute: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
• Type: Investigator-Initiated Intramural Research Projects (ZIA)
• Project #: 1ZIADK024955-07
• Application #: 8741358
• Support Year: 7
• Fiscal Year: 2013
• Total Cost: $202,850

Institution

• Name: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Publications

Wu, Di; Minton, Allen P (2013) Compensating effects of urea and trimethylamine-N-oxide on the heteroassociation of ?-chymotrypsin and soybean trypsin inhibitor. J Phys Chem B 117:3554-9

Minton, Allen P (2013) Quantitative assessment of the relative contributions of steric repulsion and chemical interactions to macromolecular crowding. Biopolymers 99:239-44

Wu, Di; Minton, Allen P (2013) Quantitative characterization of the compensating effects of trimethylamine-N-oxide and guanidine hydrochloride on the dissociation of human cyanmethmoglobin. J Phys Chem B 117:9395-9

Wu, Di; Minton, Allen P (2013) Quantitative characterization of the interaction between sucrose and native proteins via static light scattering. J Phys Chem B 117:111-7

Grupi, Asaf; Minton, Allen P (2012) Capillary viscometer for fully automated measurement of the concentration and shear dependence of the viscosity of macromolecular solutions. Anal Chem 84:10732-6

Minton, Allen P (2012) Hard quasispherical particle models for the viscosity of solutions of protein mixtures. J Phys Chem B 116:9310-5

Fernández, Cristina; Minton, Allen P (2011) Effect of nonadditive repulsive intermolecular interactions on the light scattering of concentrated protein-osmolyte mixtures. J Phys Chem B 115:1289-93

Rivas, Germán; Minton, Allen P (2011) Beyond the second virial coefficient: Sedimentation equilibrium in highly non-ideal solutions. Methods 54:167-74

Fodeke, Adedayo A; Minton, Allen P (2010) Quantitative characterization of polymer-polymer, protein-protein, and polymer-protein interaction via tracer sedimentation equilibrium. J Phys Chem B 114:10876-80

Fernandez, Cristina; Minton, Allen P (2009) Static light scattering from concentrated protein solutions II: experimental test of theory for protein mixtures and weakly self-associating proteins. Biophys J 96:1992-8