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Acid Denaturation and Refolding of Cytochrome c on Silica Surface
Author(s) -
Campbell Christopher M. J.,
Fontana Matthew T.,
Taggart Benjamin C.,
Su MengChih,
Lin ChungLu,
Chang HuanCheng,
Chen HuiJung
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of the chinese chemical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.329
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 2192-6549
pISSN - 0009-4536
DOI - 10.1002/jccs.201200417
Subject(s) - chemistry , adsorption , cytochrome c , monolayer , denaturation (fissile materials) , protein adsorption , crystallography , nuclear chemistry , biochemistry , mitochondrion
Denaturation of oxidized cytochrome c (cyt c) adsorbed to a hydrophilic fused silica surface was studied by UV‐VIS attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectroscopy using a multiple optical pass system newly developed by this lab. Cyt c surface adsorption at neutral pH gave an adsorption equilibrium constant of K a = 2 × 10 5 M −1 and a surface coverage at 63% of a monolayer saturation. Protein unfolding by acid denaturation was studied by equilibrating surface bound cyt c with acid buffers ranging in pH from 5 to 2. Protein orientation and surface coverage were calculated based on a theoretical model developed in previous work. The average heme tilt angle (44°) was found to be independent of pH, implicating protein‐surface interactions as the dominant factor governing adsorption. A non‐random molecular orientation distribution of cyt c on the surface was observed, providing further support for the dominance of protein‐surface interactions. It was shown that when denaturing acid buffers were removed and replaced with a neutral buffer cyt c refolded, assuming their original conformation. The combination of unique, yet applicable, science and laboratory skills involved in this project had a tremendous impact on the authors‘ undergraduate curriculum, making it ideal for capstone project development.