The concentration dependence of the diffusion coefficient for bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor: A dynamic light scattering study of a small protein

Abstract

This paper reports the use of dynamic light scattering to investigate the concentration dependence of the diffusion coefficient for bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI). BPTI is a small molecular weight protein (6511 Da) that has been the subject of numerous experimental studies. In addition to addressing questions that remain in the literature concerning the aggregation behavior of BPTI, we show that dynamic light scattering can be practically applied to proteins as small as BPTI, and that it can provide a useful means of parameterizing the solution behavior for proteins. We obtained values for the apparent diffusion coefficient of BPTI as a function of concentration over a range of pH values from 2.59 to 9.92 at an ionic strength of 0.3M, and over a range of ionic strength values from 0.1 to 0.5M at a pH of 7.0. The concentration dependence is linear for nearly all the conditions examined, even up to concentrations as high as 65 mg/mL. The average diffusion coefficient obtained at infinite dilution is 14.4 +/- 0.2 x 10(-7) cm2/s. This value agrees with that expected for a BPTI monomer hydrated with less than a monolayer of water. We used the theories of Felderhof, of Batchelor, and of Phillies, along with the DLVO theory to interpret the concentration dependence of the apparent diffusion coefficient. The variations observed with pH and ionic strength can be primarily attributed to screened coulombic interactions. In addition, there is an attractive interaction that is slightly stronger than the repulsive coulombic one, and that is essentially independent of pH and ionic strength. The attractive interactions appear to arise from nonspecific van der Waals interactions and do not lead to the formation of stable aggregates of BPTI.