Thermochemical studies on the interaction between sodium n-dodecyl sulphate and catalases

Abstract

The enthalpies of interaction between bovine catalase and sodium n-dodecyl sulphate (SDS) in aqueous solutions of pH 3.2,6.4 and 10.0 have been measured over a range of SDS concentrations by microcalorimetry at 25°C. The enthalpies increase with decreasing pH and with increasing SDS concentration and largely arise from the interations between the anionic head group of SDS and the cactionic amino acid residues on the protein. Chemically modified catalase in which a proportion of carboxylic acid groups have been coupled with either glycine methyl ester or ethylenediamine have been prepared and characterized in terms of their enzymic activities, spectral properties and sedimentation behaviour. The enthalpies of interaction of these catalases with SDS have been studied at pH 6.4. The results of the experiments suggest that the enthalpies of interaction with SDS can be correlated with the ratio of cationic to anionic amino acid residues on the surface of the catalase molecules and hence the nominal net surface charge. The variation in the enthalpy of interaction of catalases with surface charge, as a consequence of variation in pH, differs from the variation with charge at constant pH possibly due to the thermal effect of proton binding to the catalase—complexes.