'Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI)'
Doi
Abstract
An existing method for potentiometric titrations of proteins was improved, tested and applied to titrations of the enzyme hen-egg-white lysozyme in aqueous solutions containing KCl at ionic strengths from 0.1 M to 2.0 M at 25 C. Information about the protein`s net charge dependence on pH and ionic strength were obtained and salt binding numbers for the system were calculated using a linkage concept. For the pH range 2.5--11.5, the net charge slightly but distinctly increases with increasing ionic strength between 0.1 M and 2.0 M. The differences are most distinct in the pH region below 5. Above pH 11.35, the net charge decreases with increasing ionic strength. Preliminary calculation of binding numbers from titration curves at 0.1 M and 1.0 M showed selective association of chloride anions and expulsion of potassium ions at low pH. Ion-binding numbers from this work will be used to evaluate thermodynamic properties and to correlate crystallization or precipitation phase-equilibrium data in terms of a model based on the integral-equation theory of fluids which is currently under development
