Polyamines putrescine and spermidine as modulators of protein aggregation rate: The effect on DTT-induced aggregation of α-lactalbumin.

Protein aggregation is undesirable for cells due to its possible toxicity, and is also undesirable in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Polyamines are known to be capable of both suppressing and stimulating protein aggregation. In the present work polyamines (spermidine, putrescine) have been shown to alter the pathway of α-lactalbumin aggregation induced by dithiothreitol, leading to the formation of larger protein particles during the initial stages of aggregation and promoting the later stage of sticking of aggregates. According to the aggregation kinetics data, polyamines accelerate protein aggregation in a concentration-dependent manner, with a maximum at 50 mM spermidine and 100 mM putrescine. With a further increase in polyamines concentration the effect of aggregation acceleration decreased, thus, the modulation of the aggregation rate by polyamines was shown. A comparison of the aggregation kinetics and hydrodynamic radii growth data registered by dynamic light scattering with the data obtained by asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation and analytical ultracentrifugation allowed us to describe the early stages of aggregation and formation of initial α-lactalbumin clusters. Our results provide a deeper insight into the mechanism of amorphous aggregation of α-lactalbumin and polyamines action on protein aggregation and protein-protein interaction in general.