The effect of polyelectrolyte binding affinity on selective coacervation of proteins with the cationic polyelectrolyte, poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC), was investigated for bovine serum albumin/β-lactoglobulin (BSA/BLG) and for the isoforms BLG-A/BLG-B. High-sensitivity turbidimetric titrations were used to define conditions of complex formation and coacervation (pH(c) and pH(ϕ), respectively) as a function of ionic strength. The resultant phase boundaries, essential for the choice of conditions for selective coacervation for the chosen protein pairs, are nonmonotonic with respect to ionic strength, for both pH(c) and pH(ϕ). These results are explained in the context of short-range attraction/long-range repulsion governing initial protein binding "on the wrong side of pI" and also subsequent phase separation due to charge neutralization. The stronger binding of BLG despite its higher isoelectric point, inferred from lower pH(c), is shown to result from the negative "charge patch" on BLG, absent for BSA, as visualized via computer modeling (DelPhi). The higher affinity of BLG versus BSA was also confirmed by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The relative values of pH(ϕ) for the two proteins show complex salt dependence so that the choice of ionic strength determines the order of coacervation, whereas the choice of pH controls the yield of the target protein. Coacervation at I = 100 mM, pH 7, of BLG from a 1:1 (w/w) mixture with BSA was shown by SEC to provide 90% purity of BLG with a 20-fold increase in concentration. Ultrafiltration was shown to remove effectively the polymer from the target protein. The relationship between protein charge anisotropy and binding affinity and between binding affinity and selective coacervation, inferred from the results for BLG/BSA, was tested using the isoforms of BLG. Substitution of glycine in BLG-B by aspartate in BLG-A lowers pH(c) by 0.2, as anticipated on the basis of DelPhi modeling. The stronger binding of BLG-A, confirmed by ITC, led to a difference in pH(ϕ) that was sufficient to provide enrichment by a factor of 2 for BLG-A in the coacervate formed from "native BLG".
Critical conditions for coacervation of poly(dimethyldiallylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) with bovine serum albumin were determined as a function of ionic strength, pH, and protein/polyelectrolyte stoichiometry. The resultant phase boundaries, clearly defined with this narrow molecular weight distribution PDADMAC sample, showed nonmonotonic ionic strength dependence, with the pH-induced onset of coacervation (at pH φ ) occurring most readily at 20 mM NaCl. The corresponding onset of soluble complex formation, pH c , determined using highprecision turbidimetry sensitive to changes of less than 0.1% transmittance units, mirrored the ionic strength dependence of pH φ . This nonmonotonic binding behavior is attributable to simultaneous screening of short-range attraction and long-range repulsion. The similarity of pH c and pH φ was explained by the effect of salt on protein binding, and consequently on the number of bound proteins relative to that required for charge neutralization of the complex, a requirement for phase separation. Expansion of the coacervation regime with chitosan, a polycation with charge spacing similar to that of PDADMAC, could be due to either the charge mobility or chain stiffness of the former. The pH φ versus I phase boundary for PDADMAC correctly predicted entrance into and egress from the coacervation region by addition of either salt or water. The ability to induce or suppress coacervation via protein/polyelectrolyte stoichiometry r was found to be consistent with the proposed model. The results indicate that the conjoint effects of I, r, and pH on coacervation could be represented by a three-dimensional phase boundary.
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