Structure of lysozyme dissolved in neat organic solvents as assessed by NMR and CD spectroscopies
✍ Scribed by Tatyana Knubovets; John J. Osterhout; Alexander M. Klibanov
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 121 KB
- Volume
- 63
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0006-3592
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✦ Synopsis
The structure of the model protein hen eggwhite lysozyme dissolved in water and in five neat organic solvents (ethylene glycol, methanol, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), formamide, and dimethylformamide (DMF)) has been examined by means of 1 H NMR and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopies. The NMR spectra of lysozyme reveal the lack of a defined tertiary structure in all five organic solvents, although the examination of line widths suggests the possibility of some ordered structure in ethylene glycol and in methanol. The near-UV CD spectra of the protein suggest no tertiary structure in lysozyme dissolved in DMSO, formamide, and DMF, while a distinctive (albeit less pronounced than in water) tertiary structure is seen in ethylene glycol and a drastically changed one in methanol. A highly developed secondary structure was observed by far-UV CD in ethylene glycol and methanol; interestingly, the ␣-helix content of the protein in both was greater than in water, while the -structure content was lower. (Solvent absorbance in the far-UV region prevents conclusions about the secondary structure in DMSO, formamide and DMF.