Secondary structure of prothymosin alpha evidenced for conformational transitions induced by changes in temperature and concentration of n-dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide.

Abstract

Conformational changes of prothymosin alpha (ProTalpha) induced by changes in temperature and concentration of the denaturant n-dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (C12TAB) were studied by difference spectroscopy. The conformational transition of ProTalpha by C12TAB was followed as a function of denaturant concentration by absorbance measurements at 230 nm and the data were analyzed to obtain the Gibbs energy of the transition in water (deltaG0(w)) and in a hydrophobic environment (deltaG0(hc)) for saturated protein-surfactant complexes. The value of deltaG0(w) was 6.38 kJ mol(-1) and that for deltaG0(hc), which is not affected by temperature, was -18.62 kJ mol(-1). Changes of absorbance at 230 nm of ProTalpha with temperature can be assumed to resemble a transition in the secondary structure. The parameters characterizing the thermodynamics of unfolding, melting temperature (Tm), enthalpy (deltaHm), entropy (deltaSm) and heat capacity (deltaCp) were determined. The values obtained for Tm, deltaHm, and deltaSm are smaller that those found for other globular proteins; deltaCp was found to be much smaller. These results suggest that ProTalpha exhibits some type of secondary structure under these conditions (10 mM glycine buffer, pH 2.4).