How Accurate Is the Egg-Box Model in Describing the Binding of Calcium to Polygalacturonate? A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

We performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of octameric galacturonate, GalA8, chains in the presence of Ca2+ in a ratio of R = [Ca2+]/[GalA] = 0.25 in order to determine to which extent the popular “egg-box model” (EBM) is able to describe the association between Ca2+ cations and polygalacturonate (polyGalA) chains. To this aim, we slightly revised the empirical parameters for the interaction between Ca2+ and the carboxylate oxygen atoms of GalA units so as to reproduce the experimental Ca2+–GalA association constant. We also defined an ad hoc order parameter, referred to as the egg-box score (EBS), that quantifies any deviation of the local coordination geometry of calcium cations with respect to an “ideal” EBM coordination geometry. The results reveal that the local coordination geometry of Ca2+ cations bound to polyGalA chains differs from that of the EBM. Moreover, polyGalA chains exhibit significant conformational disorder, and the cross-link angles formed between polyGalA chain axes are broadly distributed. Overall, the present study suggests that the EBM fails to describe accurately the association modes between calcium and polyGalA chains at a molar ratio R of 0.25

How Accurate Is the Egg-Box Model in Describing the Binding of Calcium to Polygalacturonate? A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

We performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of octameric galacturonate, GalA8, chains in the presence of Ca2+ in a ratio of R = [Ca2+]/[GalA] = 0.25 in order to determine to which extent the popular “egg-box model” (EBM) is able to describe the association between Ca2+ cations and polygalacturonate (polyGalA) chains. To this aim, we slightly revised the empirical parameters for the interaction between Ca2+ and the carboxylate oxygen atoms of GalA units so as to reproduce the experimental Ca2+–GalA association constant. We also defined an ad hoc order parameter, referred to as the egg-box score (EBS), that quantifies any deviation of the local coordination geometry of calcium cations with respect to an “ideal” EBM coordination geometry. The results reveal that the local coordination geometry of Ca2+ cations bound to polyGalA chains differs from that of the EBM. Moreover, polyGalA chains exhibit significant conformational disorder, and the cross-link angles formed between polyGalA chain axes are broadly distributed. Overall, the present study suggests that the EBM fails to describe accurately the association modes between calcium and polyGalA chains at a molar ratio R of 0.25

Thermal Denaturation of Pea Globulins (<i>Pisum sativum</i> L.)Molecular Interactions Leading to Heat-Induced Protein Aggregation

The heat-induced denaturation and aggregation of mixed pea globulins (8%, w/w) were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), SDS-PAGE, and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC-HPLC). DSC data showed that the pea proteins denaturation temperature (<i>T</i>_d) was heating-rate dependent. The <i>T</i>_d value decreased by about 4 °C by lowering the heating rate from 10 to 5 °C/min. The SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that protein denaturation upon heating at 90 °C was mainly governed by noncovalent interaction. The SEC-HPLC measurements indicated that low-denatured legumin (≈350–410 kDa) and vicilin/convicilin (≈170 kDa) globulins were heat-denatured and most of their subunits reassociated into high-molecular weight, soluble aggregates (>700 kDa). The addition of <i>N</i>-ethylmaleimide slightly modified the aggregation route of pea globulins. However, partially insoluble macroaggregates were produced in the presence of dithiothreitol, reflecting the stabilizing effect of disulfide bonds within legumin subunits