Isoelectric point

The isoelectric point (pI, pH(I), IEP), is the pH at which a molecule carries no net electrical charge or is electrically neutral in the statistical mean. The standard nomenclature to represent the isoelectric point is pH(I), although pI is also commonly seen, and is used in this article for brevity. The net charge on the molecule is affected by pH of its surrounding environment and can become more positively or negatively charged due to the gain or loss, respectively, of protons (H+).For an amino acid with only one amine and one carboxyl group, the pI can be calculated from the mean of the pKas of this molecule.A number of algorithms for estimating isoelectric points of peptides and proteins have been developed. Most of them use Henderson–Hasselbalch equation with different pK values. For instance, within the model proposed by Bjellqvist and co-workers the pK's were determined between closely related immobilines, by focusing the same sample in overlapping pH gradients. Some improvements in the methodology (especially in the determination of the pK values for modified amino acids) have been also proposed. More advanced methods take into account the effect of adjacent amino acids ±3 residues away from a charged aspartic or glutamic acid, the effects on free C terminus, as well as they apply a correction term to the corresponding pK values using genetic algorithm. Other recent approaches are based on a support vector machine algorithm and pKa optimization against experimentally known protein/peptide isoelectric points.The isoelectric points (IEP) of metal oxide ceramics are used extensively in material science in various aqueous processing steps (synthesis, modification, etc.). In the absence of chemisorbed or physisorbed species particle surfaces in aqueous suspension are generally assumed to be covered with surface hydroxyl species, M-OH (where M is a metal such as Al, Si, etc.). At pH values above the IEP, the predominate surface species is M-O−, while at pH values below the IEP, M-OH2+ species predominate. Some approximate values of common ceramics are listed below:The terms isoelectric point (IEP) and point of zero charge (PZC) are often used interchangeably, although under certain circumstances, it may be productive to make the distinction.