Species differences of serum albumins: II. Chemical and thermal stability.
OBJECTIVE
The chemical and thermal stability of five species of mammalian serum albumins (human, bovine, dog, rabbit, and rat) were investigated, and conformational stabilities were compared to obtain structural information about the different albumins.


METHODS
The chemical stability was estimated by using guanidine hydrochloride (GdnCl), and monitored by fluorometry and circular dichroism (CD). Thermal stability was evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).


RESULTS
In human, bovine, and rat albumin, two transitions were observed when GdnCl-induced denaturation was monitored fluorometrically, indicating at least one stable intermediate, although, in dog and rabbit albumin, only one transition was observed. However, GdnCl denaturation, as monitored by the ellipticity, showed a two-state transition in all species used in this study. Since these proteins, showing two transitions, contained a conserved tryptophan residue within domain II, these structural changes might have occurred in domain II during intermediate formation. DSC measurements showed that human, bovine, and rat albumin exhibited single sharp endotherms and these were clearly consistent with a two-state transition, while the deconvolution analysis of broad thermograms observed for dog and rabbit albumin showed that the absorption peaks could be approximated by a two-component composition, and were consistent with independent transitions of two different cooperative blocks.


CONCLUSIONS
These experimental results demonstrate that species differences exist with respect to the conformational stability and the mechanism of the unfolding pathway for mammalian albumin.
Kosa
T
T
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Japan.
Maruyama
T
T
Otagiri
M
M
D000818:Animals; D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D002417:Cattle; D004285:Dogs; D019791:Guanidine / Q000494:pharmacology; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D010277:Parasympathomimetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D011489:Protein Denaturation / Q000187:drug effects; D017510:Protein Folding; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000737:chemistry*; D012997:Solvents; D013045:Species Specificity
D010277:Parasympathomimetics; D012709:Serum Albumin; D012997:Solvents; D019791:Guanidine