Abstract
The thermal stability of the recombinant green fluorescent protein (GFPuv) expressed by Escherichia coli cells and isolated by three-phase partitioning extraction with hydrophobic interaction chromatography was studied. The GFPuv (3.5–9.0 μg of GFPuv/mL) was exposed to various pH conditions (4.91–9.03) and temperatures (75–95°C) in the 10 mM buffers: acetate (pH 5.0–7.0), phosphate (pH 5.5–8.0), and Tris-HCl (pH 7.0–9.0). The extent of protein denaturation (loss of fluorescence intensity) was expressed in decimal reduction time (D-value), the time exposure required to reduce 90% of the initial fluorescence intensity of GFPuv. For pH 7.0 to 8.0, the thermostability of GFPuv was slightly greater in phosphate buffer than in Tris-HCl. At 85°C, the D-values (pH 7.1–7.5) ranged from 7.24 (Tris-HCl) to 13.88 min (phosphate) The stability of GFPuv in Tris-HCl (pH>8.0) was constant at 90 and 95°C, and the D-values were 7.93 (pH 8.38–8.92) and 6.0 min (pH 8.05–8.97), respectively. The thermostability of GFPuv provides the basis for its potential utility as a fluorescent biologic indicator to assay the efficacy of moist-heat treatments at temperatures lower than 100°C.
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Penna, T.C.V., Ishii, M., Junior, A.P. et al. Thermal stability of recombinant green fluorescent protein (GFPuv) at various pH values. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 114, 469–483 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1385/ABAB:114:1-3:469
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/ABAB:114:1-3:469