Issue 28, 2022

Denaturant- or ligand-induced changes in protein volume by pressure shift assay

Abstract

A complete thermodynamic description of protein–ligand binding includes parameters related to pressure and temperature. The changes in the protein volume and compressibility upon binding a ligand are pressure-related parameters that are often neglected due to the lack of routine methods for their determination. Fluorescent pressure shift assay (FPSA) is based on pressure-induced protein unfolding and its stabilization by a ligand and offers a universal approach to determine protein–ligand binding volumes. Extremely high pressures are required to unfold most proteins and protein–ligand complexes. Thus, guanidinium hydrochloride (GdmHCl) is used as a protein-destabilizing agent. We determined that GdmHCl unfolds carbonic anhydrase isoforms in a different pathway, but the destabilization effect is linear in a particular concentration range. We developed a concept for the FPSA experiment, where both – the ligand and GdmHCl – concentrations are varied. This approach enabled us to determine protein–ligand binding volumes that otherwise would be impossible due to the equipment-unreachable pressures of protein unfolding.

Graphical abstract: Denaturant- or ligand-induced changes in protein volume by pressure shift assay

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 Mar 2022
Accepted
23 Jun 2022
First published
24 Jun 2022

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2022,24, 17279-17288

Denaturant- or ligand-induced changes in protein volume by pressure shift assay

G. Skvarnavičius, Z. Toleikis, D. Matulis and V. Petrauskas, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2022, 24, 17279 DOI: 10.1039/D2CP01046A

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