Direct Observation of the Self-Association of Dilute Proteins in the Presence of Inert Macromolecules at High Concentration via Tracer Sedimentation Equilibrium: Theory, Experiment, and Biological Significance

Abstract

The technique of tracer sedimentation equilibrium [Rivas, G., et al. (1994) Biochemistry , 2341−2348 ( 1); Rivas, G., et al. (1996) J. Mol. Recognit. 9, 31−38 ( 2)] is utilized, together with an extension of the theory of sedimentation equilibrium of highly nonideal solutions [Chatelier and Minton, (1987) Biopolymers 26, 1097−1113 ( 3)], to characterize the thermodynamic activity and/or the state of association of a dilute, labeled macromolecular solute in the presence of an arbitary concentration of a second, unlabeled macromolecular solute. Experiments are performed on solutions of labeled fibrinogen (0.25−1 g/L) in bovine serum albumin (0−100 g/L) in the presence and absence of divalent cations (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺), and on solutions of labeled tubulin (0.2−0.6 g/L) in dextran (0−100 g/L). It is found that in the absence of the divalent cations, the large dependence of the thermodynamic activity of fibrinogen on BSA concentration is well accounted for by a simple model for steric repulsion. In the presence of the cations and sufficiently large concentrations of BSA (>30 g/L), fibrinogen appears to self-associate to a weight-average molar mass approximately twice that of monomeric fibrinogen. Tubulin appears to self-associate to an extent that increases monotonically with increasing dextran concentration, reaching a weight-average molar mass almost 3 times that of the αβ dimer in the presence of 100 g/L dextran. Possible biological ramifications are discussed.