Applicability of the potentiometric titration method to the analysis of the expansion process of bovine plasma albumin in acidic solutions

Abstract

To study the expansion process of bovine plasma albumin in acidic solutions, observed potentiometric titration curves at three different ionic strengths were compared with theoretical curves, using the radii of the protein determined by small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). From the comparison, it was concluded that the expansion is completed via two different transitions and that the conformation of the protein before the first transition is stable and common at all ionic strengths, whereas the form of the protein becomes a more swollen and unstable one after the first transition. Moreover, the charge-independent part of the standard free energy change, delta G0, in the first transition was estimated from the potentiometric titration curves. The numerical value of delta G0 is 2350 +/- 50 cal/mol, which is very small compared with the corresponding one for ordinary biopolymers.