Upper Critical Solution Temperature (UCST) Behavior of Coacervate of Cationic Protamine and Multivalent Anions

Polymers

YongSeok Jho¹  Hyungbin Kim²  DongSoo Hwang²  Sangsik Kim²  Byoung-jin Jeon³ 

[1] Department of Physics and Research Institute of Natural Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52828, Korea;Division of Integrative Biosciences and Biotechnology, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang 37673, Korea;Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA;

关键词: coacervate;    UCST;    multivalent ion;    protamine;    guanidine;    temperature;   

DOI  :  10.3390/polym11040691

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Complex coacervation is an emerging liquid/liquid phase separation (LLPS) phenomenon that behaves as a membrane-less organelle in living cells. Yet while one of the critical factors for complex coacervation is temperature, little analysis and research has been devoted to the temperature effect on complex coacervation. Here, we performed a complex coacervation of cationic protamine and multivalent anions (citrate and tripolyphosphate (TPP)). Both mixtures (i.e., protamine/citrate and protamine/TPP) underwent coacervation in an aqueous solution, while a mixture of protamine and sodium chloride did not. Interestingly, the complex coacervation of protamine and multivalent anions showed upper critical solution temperature (UCST) behavior, and the coacervation of protamine and multivalent anions was reversible with solution temperature changes. The large asymmetry in molecular weight between positively charged protamine (~4 kDa) and the multivalent anions (<0.4 kDa) and strong electrostatic interactions between positively charged guanidine residues in protamine and multivalent anions were likely to contribute to UCST behavior in this coacervation system.

【 授权许可】

Unknown