Effects of Low Concentration Glycerol on Protein Structure Based on Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry

Glycerol is a simple polyol compound, it has many biological and industrial applications when mixed with water. It can stabilize proteins under extreme conditions, such as heat stress, cold shock, high pressure, etc. Most proteins are usually stored in a buffer system with the presence of glycerol a...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: HE Yuan-feng, ZHU Long-ping, MIAO Hui, CHEN Bao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Editorial Board of Journal of Chinese Mass Spectrometry Society 2022-09-01
Series:Zhipu Xuebao
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.jcmss.com.cn/CN/article/openArticlePDF.jsp?attachType=PDF&id=3103
_version_ 1811210921509388288
author HE Yuan-feng
ZHU Long-ping
MIAO Hui
CHEN Bao
author_facet HE Yuan-feng
ZHU Long-ping
MIAO Hui
CHEN Bao
author_sort HE Yuan-feng
collection DOAJ
description Glycerol is a simple polyol compound, it has many biological and industrial applications when mixed with water. It can stabilize proteins under extreme conditions, such as heat stress, cold shock, high pressure, etc. Most proteins are usually stored in a buffer system with the presence of glycerol after purification to maintain the stability of their biological activity. At present, there are still some controversies about the protective mechanism of glycerol on proteins. Most studies were focused on the effect of high concentrations of glycerol on protein structure. However, there were few related studies on low concentrations of glycerol. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the effects of low concentrations of glycerol on protein structure is beneficial to protein related research and applications. Electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) has become a commonly used technique to study protein structure and function, which is reliable and time-efficient. Protein conformational change can be described in more detailed by ESI combined with ion mobility spectrometry. Ion mobility provides an additional dimension of resolution. When ions with different sizes, charges and shapes pass through the chamber, they are migrated and separated in neutral media according to the collision cross-section (CCS). By measuring the molecular weight, charge state distribution, drift time and CCS, the structural change information of the protein can be obtained. In this study, bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as a model protein, and ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) and dynamic light scattering were used to investigate the effect of low concentration glycerol on protein structure under approximate physiological conditions. The results showed that glycerol within a certain concentration range could cause an increase in the average charge and CCS of BSA. Meanwhile, a single charge state of BSA also experienced an increase of CCS in presence of glycerol. In addition, the hydration radius of BSA were increased with the increase of glycerol concentration. The results indicated that low concentrations of glycerol can loosen proteins. It is interesting to note that the unfolding voltage of BSA containing 0.5% glycerol was higher than BSA without glycerol and the unfolding transition occurred in a wider voltage range, indicating that low concentration of glycerol can improve the stability of the protein. These results provide further insight into the mechanism of glycerol stabilizing proteins and may also provide references for the related research and development of proteins.
first_indexed 2024-04-12T05:04:12Z
format Article
id doaj.art-d0ad3de36c4641a8bf735da154973918
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1004-2997
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-12T05:04:12Z
publishDate 2022-09-01
publisher Editorial Board of Journal of Chinese Mass Spectrometry Society
record_format Article
series Zhipu Xuebao
spelling doaj.art-d0ad3de36c4641a8bf735da1549739182022-12-22T03:46:55ZengEditorial Board of Journal of Chinese Mass Spectrometry SocietyZhipu Xuebao1004-29972022-09-0143566366910.7538/zpxb.2022.0131Effects of Low Concentration Glycerol on Protein Structure Based on Ion Mobility-Mass SpectrometryHE Yuan-feng0ZHU Long-ping1MIAO Hui2CHEN Bao3School of Pharmacy, Sun Yat-sen UniversitySchool of Pharmacy, Sun Yat-sen UniversitySchool of Pharmacy, Sun Yat-sen UniversitySchool of Pharmacy, Sun Yat-sen UniversityGlycerol is a simple polyol compound, it has many biological and industrial applications when mixed with water. It can stabilize proteins under extreme conditions, such as heat stress, cold shock, high pressure, etc. Most proteins are usually stored in a buffer system with the presence of glycerol after purification to maintain the stability of their biological activity. At present, there are still some controversies about the protective mechanism of glycerol on proteins. Most studies were focused on the effect of high concentrations of glycerol on protein structure. However, there were few related studies on low concentrations of glycerol. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the effects of low concentrations of glycerol on protein structure is beneficial to protein related research and applications. Electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) has become a commonly used technique to study protein structure and function, which is reliable and time-efficient. Protein conformational change can be described in more detailed by ESI combined with ion mobility spectrometry. Ion mobility provides an additional dimension of resolution. When ions with different sizes, charges and shapes pass through the chamber, they are migrated and separated in neutral media according to the collision cross-section (CCS). By measuring the molecular weight, charge state distribution, drift time and CCS, the structural change information of the protein can be obtained. In this study, bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as a model protein, and ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) and dynamic light scattering were used to investigate the effect of low concentration glycerol on protein structure under approximate physiological conditions. The results showed that glycerol within a certain concentration range could cause an increase in the average charge and CCS of BSA. Meanwhile, a single charge state of BSA also experienced an increase of CCS in presence of glycerol. In addition, the hydration radius of BSA were increased with the increase of glycerol concentration. The results indicated that low concentrations of glycerol can loosen proteins. It is interesting to note that the unfolding voltage of BSA containing 0.5% glycerol was higher than BSA without glycerol and the unfolding transition occurred in a wider voltage range, indicating that low concentration of glycerol can improve the stability of the protein. These results provide further insight into the mechanism of glycerol stabilizing proteins and may also provide references for the related research and development of proteins.http://www.jcmss.com.cn/CN/article/openArticlePDF.jsp?attachType=PDF&id=3103ion mobility-mass spectrometry (im-ms); glycerinbovine serum albumin (bsa)conformation of proteincollision cross-section (ccs)
spellingShingle HE Yuan-feng
ZHU Long-ping
MIAO Hui
CHEN Bao
Effects of Low Concentration Glycerol on Protein Structure Based on Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry
Zhipu Xuebao
ion mobility-mass spectrometry (im-ms); glycerin
bovine serum albumin (bsa)
conformation of protein
collision cross-section (ccs)
title Effects of Low Concentration Glycerol on Protein Structure Based on Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry
title_full Effects of Low Concentration Glycerol on Protein Structure Based on Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry
title_fullStr Effects of Low Concentration Glycerol on Protein Structure Based on Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry
title_full_unstemmed Effects of Low Concentration Glycerol on Protein Structure Based on Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry
title_short Effects of Low Concentration Glycerol on Protein Structure Based on Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry
title_sort effects of low concentration glycerol on protein structure based on ion mobility mass spectrometry
topic ion mobility-mass spectrometry (im-ms); glycerin
bovine serum albumin (bsa)
conformation of protein
collision cross-section (ccs)
url http://www.jcmss.com.cn/CN/article/openArticlePDF.jsp?attachType=PDF&id=3103
work_keys_str_mv AT heyuanfeng effectsoflowconcentrationglycerolonproteinstructurebasedonionmobilitymassspectrometry
AT zhulongping effectsoflowconcentrationglycerolonproteinstructurebasedonionmobilitymassspectrometry
AT miaohui effectsoflowconcentrationglycerolonproteinstructurebasedonionmobilitymassspectrometry
AT chenbao effectsoflowconcentrationglycerolonproteinstructurebasedonionmobilitymassspectrometry