Protein denaturation, protein stability - Measuring protein unfolding - Differential scanning calorimetry

4 important questions on Protein denaturation, protein stability - Measuring protein unfolding - Differential scanning calorimetry

What is the information you get from DSC (differential scanning calorimetry)?

  • Heat capacity (Cp) of native and unfolded proteins
  • Denaturation temperature
  • Enthalpy of unfolding

How can you determine how much your sample is unfolded with DSC?

When a protein starts to unfold is needs energy to break the bonds. This is where you get a peak on your graph.
The more bonds that need to be broken the more energy you need. So the higher the peak the less denatured proteins your sample has.

How does the heterogeneity (different proteins, or isoforms influence the analysis of DSC results?

Most likely all isoforms will have slightly different denaturation temperatures. This will result in a broader denaturation curve. This principle can still be implied, but it will provide a rage of denaturation temperature rather than one specific denaturation temperature.
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For what is DSC used and explain how to read the results

To determine the amount of processing-induced damage (denaturation) of proteins.

The unfolding curve represents the probability density function of protein unfolding. This curve can be transformed to a cumulative distribution function, which shows the fraction of folded proteins as a function of temperature. This can be used to calculate free energy of unfolding (∆
Gunf)

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