Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
In biochemistry, denaturation is a process in which proteins or nucleic acids lose folded structure present in their native state due to various factors, including application of some external stress or compound, such as a strong acid or base, a concentrated inorganic salt, an organic solvent (e.g., alcohol or chloroform), agitation and radiation, or heat. [3]
Likewise, increasing salt concentrations helps diffuse negative repulsions between the phosphates in the DNA's backbone. This also leads to a rise in the DNA's melting temperature. Conversely, pH can have a negative effect on DNA's stability which may lead to a lowering of its melting temperature.
The hyperchromic effect is the striking increase in absorbance of DNA upon denaturation. The two strands of DNA are bound together mainly by the stacking interactions, hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic effect between the complementary bases. The hydrogen bond limits the resonance of the aromatic ring so the absorbance of the sample is limited as well.
See Hydrophobic effect. Both terms are used to refer to the process as it occurs when a mixture is heated, although "denaturation" can also refer to the separation of DNA strands induced by chemicals like formamide or urea. [1] The process of DNA denaturation can be used to analyze some aspects of DNA.
In the less extensive technique of equilibrium unfolding, the fractions of folded and unfolded molecules (denoted as and , respectively) are measured as the solution conditions are gradually changed from those favoring the native state to those favoring the unfolded state, e.g., by adding a denaturant such as guanidinium hydrochloride or urea.
A thermal shift assay (TSA) measures changes in the thermal denaturation temperature and hence stability of a protein under varying conditions such as variations in drug concentration, buffer formulation (pH or ionic strength), redox potential, or sequence mutation. The most common method for measuring protein thermal shifts is differential ...
Pepsin is inactive at pH 6.5 and above, however pepsin is not fully denatured or irreversibly inactivated until pH 8.0. [11] [15] Therefore, pepsin in solutions of up to pH 8.0 can be reactivated upon re-acidification. The stability of pepsin at high pH has significant implications on disease attributed to laryngopharyngeal reflux. Pepsin ...
Important parameters to consider are temperature, which should be less than 0 °C to avoid denaturation, pH and protein concentration in solution. Miscible organic solvents decrease the dielectric constant of water, which in effect allows two proteins to come close together.