Increasing the stability of Lumbricus terrestris erythrocruorin via poly(acrylic acid) conjugation.

Increasing the stability of Lumbricus terrestris erythrocruorin via poly(acrylic acid) conjugation. Artif Cells Nanomed Biotechnol. 2018 Jun 19;:1-8 Authors: Spivack K, Tucker M, Zimmerman D, Nicholas M, Abdulmalik O, Comolli N, Elmer J Abstract Since donated red blood cells must be constantly refrigerated, they are often unavailable in remote areas and battlefields. The goal of this study was to synthesize a highly stable blood substitute that does not require refrigeration. Specifically, the extracellular haemoglobin (a.k.a. erythrocruorin, Ec) of the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris erythrocruororin (LtEc) was cross-linked with poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and ethylene diamine (EDA). PAGE analysis of the LtEc nanoparticles reveals cross-linking between subunits, while dynamic light scattering and scanning electron microscopy show that cross-linking significantly increases the size of the LtEc nanoparticles (164 ± 13.9 nm). Cross-linking also significantly increased the thermal stability of the LtEc nanoparticles by 10 °C (Tm = 72 ± 0.84 °C) relative to native LtEc (Tm = 62 ± 0.6 °C). In addition, while native LtEc rapidly dissociates at pH 9, the LtEc nanoparticles resist subunit dissociation up to pH 10. The oxygen affinity of the LtEc nanoparticles (P50 = 6.85 ± 0.13 mm Hg) is much higher than native LtEc (P50 = 26.67 ± 0.4 mm Hg), but the cooperativity (n = 2.43 ± 0.12)...
Source: Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine and Biotechnology - Category: Biotechnology Tags: Artif Cells Nanomed Biotechnol Source Type: research