scholarly journals Characterization of DNA nanostructure stability by size exclusion chromatography

Author(s):  
Nicole Langlois ◽  
Heather Clark

DNA-based nanostructures (DNs) are advantageous for the design of functional materials for biology and medicine due to the nanoscale control provided by their predictable self-assembly. However, the use of DNs in vivo has been limited due to structural instability in biofluids. As the stability of a particular DN sets the scope of its potential biological applications, efficient methods to characterize stability are required. Here, we apply size exclusion chromatography (SEC) to study the stability of a tetrahedron DNA nanostructure (TDN) and demonstrate the analytical capabilities of our method in characterizing degradation by enzymes and a diluted human serum matrix. We show that SEC analysis can reliably assay TDN degradation by a nuclease through direct injection and peak integration. Furthermore, data analysis using a ratio chromatogram technique enables TDN peak deconvolution from the matrix of serum proteins. Using our method, we found that TDNs exhibit half-lives of 23.9 hours and 10.1 hours in 20% and 50% diluted human serum, respectively, which is consistent with reported stability studies in 10% fetal bovine serum. We anticipate that this method could be broadly applicable to characterize a variety of DNs and serve as an efficient technique toward analysis of the stability of new DN designs in complex biological matrixes.

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 4512
Author(s):  
Michał Marcinkowski ◽  
Tomaš Pilžys ◽  
Damian Garbicz ◽  
Jan Piwowarski ◽  
Damian Mielecki ◽  
...  

The FTO protein is involved in a wide range of physiological processes, including adipogenesis and osteogenesis. This two-domain protein belongs to the AlkB family of 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG)- and Fe(II)-dependent dioxygenases, displaying N6-methyladenosine (N6-meA) demethylase activity. The aim of the study was to characterize the relationships between the structure and activity of FTO. The effect of cofactors (Fe2+/Mn2+ and 2-OG), Ca2+ that do not bind at the catalytic site, and protein concentration on FTO properties expressed in either E. coli (ECFTO) or baculovirus (BESFTO) system were determined using biophysical methods (DSF, MST, SAXS) and biochemical techniques (size-exclusion chromatography, enzymatic assay). We found that BESFTO carries three phosphoserines (S184, S256, S260), while there were no such modifications in ECFTO. The S256D mutation mimicking the S256 phosphorylation moderately decreased FTO catalytic activity. In the presence of Ca2+, a slight stabilization of the FTO structure was observed, accompanied by a decrease in catalytic activity. Size exclusion chromatography and MST data confirmed the ability of FTO from both expression systems to form homodimers. The MST-determined dissociation constant of the FTO homodimer was consistent with their in vivo formation in human cells. Finally, a low-resolution structure of the FTO homodimer was built based on SAXS data.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole L. McIntosh ◽  
Geoffrey Y. Berguig ◽  
Omair A. Karim ◽  
Christa L. Cortesio ◽  
Rolando De Angelis ◽  
...  

AbstractAdeno associated virus (AAV) capsids are a leading modality for in vivo gene delivery. Complete and precise characterization of capsid particles, including capsid and vector genome concentration, is necessary to safely and efficaciously dose patients. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) coupled to multiangle light scattering (MALS) offers a straightforward approach to comprehensively characterize AAV capsids. The current study demonstrates that this method provides detailed AAV characterization information, including but not limited to aggregation profile, size-distribution, capsid content, capsid molar mass, encapsidated DNA molar mass, and total capsid and vector genome titer. Currently, multiple techniques are required to generate this information, with varying accuracy and precision. In the current study, a new series of equations for SEC-MALS are used in tandem with intrinsic properties of the capsids and encapsidated DNA to quantify multiple physical AAV attributes in one 20-min run with minimal sample manipulation, high accuracy, and high precision. These novel applications designate this well-established method as a powerful tool for product development and process analytics in future gene therapy programs.


Nanoscale ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (16) ◽  
pp. 7420-7430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean F. Gilmore ◽  
Timothy S. Carpenter ◽  
Helgi I. Ingólfsson ◽  
Sandra K. G. Peters ◽  
Paul T. Henderson ◽  
...  

Nanolipoprotein assembly, and dissociation through contact with serum, as assessed through size-exclusion chromatography.


2000 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 1379-1384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrien M. J. Van Laere ◽  
Tjakko Abee ◽  
Henk A. Schols ◽  
Gerrit Beldman ◽  
Alphons G. J. Voragen

ABSTRACT This paper reports on the effects of both reducing and nonreducing transgalactooligosaccharides (TOS) comprising 2 to 8 residues on the growth of Bifidobacterium adolescentis DSM 20083 and on the production of a novel β-galactosidase (β-Gal II). In cells grown on TOS, in addition to the lactose-degrading β-Gal (β-Gal I), another β-Gal (β-Gal II) was detected and it showed activity towards TOS but not towards lactose. β-Gal II activity was at least 20-fold higher when cells were grown on TOS than when cells were grown on galactose, glucose, and lactose. Subsequently, the enzyme was purified from the cell extract of TOS-grown B. adolescentis by anion-exchange chromatography, adsorption chromatography, and size-exclusion chromatography. β-Gal II has apparent molecular masses of 350 and 89 kDa as judged by size-exclusion chromatography and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, respectively, indicating that the enzyme is active in vivo as a tetramer. β-Gal II had an optimal activity at pH 6 and was not active below pH 5. Its optimum temperature was 35°C. The enzyme showed highestV max values towards galactooligosaccharides with a low degree of polymerization. This result is in agreement with the observation that during fermentation of TOS, the di- and trisaccharides were fermented first. β-Gal II was active towards β-galactosyl residues that were 1→4, 1→6, 1→3, and 1↔1 linked, signifying its role in the metabolism of galactooligosaccharides by B. adolescentis.


2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie Pamir ◽  
David A Dichek ◽  
Godfrey S Getz ◽  
Santica Marcovina ◽  
Jay W Heinecke

Background: The cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC) of serum HDL, measured using cultured macrophages predicts incident and prevalent CVD risk in humans. The ABCA1 pathway is a key regulator of macrophage cholesterol homeostasis in vivo. Methods: We used genetic and biochemical approaches in mice to identify important mediators of CEC. Results: On high-resolution size-exclusion chromatography of mouse plasma, macrophage CEC and HDL co-eluted as a single major peak, suggesting that HDL mediates cholesterol efflux. In contrast, size-exclusion chromatography revealed two major peaks of material that promoted ABCA1-specific CEC, one of which was distinct from HDL. HDL particle concentration was reduced by 75% in Apoa1 -/- mice; this resulted in a 50% decrease in macrophage CEC but, surprisingly, had no impact on ABCA1-specific CEC. Orthogonal chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis of the non-HDL-associated efflux inducing material isolated from wild-type and APOA1 deficient plasma showed that plasminogen strongly correlated with ABCA1-specific CEC. Moreover, isolated plasminogen promoted cholesterol efflux by the ABCA1 pathway, and the specific activity of ABCA1-specific CEC of non-HDL-associated material was reduced by 50% in plasminogen deficient plasma. Imaging of cells treated with fluorescently-labeled antibodies demonstrated that ABCA1 and plasminogen co-localized on the plasma membrane. Conclusions: HDL particle concentration is an important contributor to macrophage CEC. However, other pathways contribute to ABCA1-specific CEC; our studies identify plasminogen as one potential mediator. Plasminogen associates with CVD risk in human genetic studies, raising the possibility that it plays a role in atherosclerosis by modulating ABCA1-mediated sterol efflux from macrophages.


2010 ◽  
Vol 298 (1) ◽  
pp. F205-F208 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. Fissell ◽  
Christina L. Hofmann ◽  
Ross Smith ◽  
Michelle H. Chen

The characteristics of the glomerular filtration barrier (GFB) are challenging to measure, as macromolecular solutes in blood may be metabolized or transported by various cells in the kidney. Urinary solute concentrations generally reflect the cumulative influence of multiple transport processes rather than the intrinsic behavior of the GFB alone. Synthetic tracer molecules which are not secreted, absorbed, or modified by the kidney are useful tools. Ficoll, a globular polymer of epichlorohydrin and sucrose, is round, physiologically inert, and easily labeled, making it a nearly ideal glomerular probe. Fissell et al. reported filtration data suggesting that Ficoll was not as spherical as had been previously suggested (Fissell WH, Manley S, Dubnisheva A, Glass J, Magistrelli J, Eldridge AN, Fleischman AJ, Zydney AL, Roy S. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 293: F1209–F1213, 2007). More recently, two investigators published comparisons of neutral and anionic Ficoll clearance that suggest Ficoll may undergo conformational changes when chemically derivatized (Asgeirsson D, Venturoli D, Rippe B, Rippe C. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 291: F1083–F1089, 2006; Guimaraes MAM, Nikolovski J, Pratt LM, Greive K, Comper WD. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 285: F1118–F1124, 2003). To investigate Ficoll's characteristics further, we examined two commercial preparations, Ficoll 70 and Ficoll 400, by size-exclusion chromatography using a differential refractive index detector combined with light-scattering and viscosity detectors. A slope of 0.45 was obtained from the plot of the logarithm of molecular mass against the logarithm of root-mean square radius. The Mark-Houwink exponent values of 0.34 and 0.36 were calculated for Ficoll 70 and Ficoll 400, respectively. These results suggest Ficoll's conformation in physiological saline solution is likely intermediate between a solid sphere and a well-solvated linear random coil. The measurements help explain our previous observations and guide interpretation of in vivo experiments.


Proteomes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateusz Smolarz ◽  
Monika Pietrowska ◽  
Natalia Matysiak ◽  
Łukasz Mielańczyk ◽  
Piotr Widłak

Untargeted proteomics analysis of extracellular vesicles (EVs) isolated from human serum or plasma remains a technical challenge due to the contamination of these vesicles with lipoproteins and other abundant serum components. Here we aimed to test a simple method of EV isolation from a small amount of human serum (<1 mL) using the size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) standalone for the discovery of vesicle-specific proteins by the untargeted LC–MS/MS shotgun approach. We selected the SEC fraction containing vesicles with the size of about 100 nm and enriched with exosome markers CD63 and CD81 (but not CD9 and TSG101) and analyzed it in a parallel to the subsequent SEC fraction enriched in the lipoprotein vesicles. In general, there were 267 proteins identified by LC–MS/MS in exosome-containing fraction (after exclusion of immunoglobulins), yet 94 of them might be considered as serum proteins. Hence, 173 exosome-related proteins were analyzed, including 92 proteins absent in lipoprotein-enriched fraction. In this set of exosome-related proteins, there were 45 species associated with the GO cellular compartment term “extracellular exosome”. Moreover, there were 31 proteins associated with different immune-related functions in this set, which putatively reflected the major role of exosomes released by immune cells present in the blood. We concluded that identified set of proteins included a bona fide exosomes components, yet the coverage of exosome proteome was low due to co-purified high abundant serum proteins. Nevertheless, the approach proposed in current work outperformed other comparable protocols regarding untargeted identification of exosome proteins and could be recommended for pilot exploratory studies when a small amount of a serum/plasma specimen is available.


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