title: Effects of gigapascal level pressure on protein structure and function.
abstract: Information on very high pressure (VHP) effects on proteins is limited and therefore effects of VHP on chemistry, structure and function of two model proteins in medical use were studied. VHP (8 GPa) application to l-asparaginase (L-ASNase) resulted in faster mobility on clear native gels. VHP induced generation of lower-MW forms of L-ASNase but VHP treatment did not deteriorate asparaginase activity. Electrophoretic patterns in native and denaturing gels were comparable for untreated and pressurized recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH). rhGH function, however, was deteriorated as shown by a bioassay. In L-ASNase and rhGH a series of protein modifications and amino acid exchanges (indicating cleavage of covalent bonds) were revealed that may probably lead to functional and conformational changes. The findings have implications in protein chemistry, structure, and function and are useful for designing biotechnological applications of protein products.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Wei-Qiang
authors.initials: WQ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Gunter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Heymann
authors.forename: Petri
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kursula
authors.forename: Margit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosner
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hengstschläger
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huppertz
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lubec
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001215:Asparaginase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011312:Pressure; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D001215:Asparaginase