Effect of sulfoxides on the thermal denaturation of hen lysozyme: A calorimetric and Raman study

Abstract A multidisciplinary study of the thermal denaturation of lysozyme in the presence of three sulfoxides with different length in hydrocarbon chain (DMSO, DESO, and DPSO) was carried out by means of DSC, Raman spectroscopy, and SDS–PAGE techniques. In particular, the T d and Δ H values obtained from the calorimetric measurements showed that lysozyme is partially unfolded by sulfoxides but most of the conformation holds native state. The sulfoxide denaturing ability increases in the order DPSO > DESO > DMSO. Moreover, only DMSO and DESO have a real effect in preventing the heat-induced inactivation of the protein and their maximum heat-protective ability is reached when the DMSO and DESO amount is ⩾25% w/w. The sulfoxide ability to act as effective protective agents against the heat-induced inactivation was confirmed by the protein analysis. The enzymatic activity, as well as the SDS–PAGE analysis, suggested that DESO, having a low hydrophobic character and a great ability to stabilise the three-dimensional water structure, is the most heat-protective sulfoxide. An accurate evaluation of the heat-induced conformational changes of the lysozyme structure before and after sulfoxide addition was obtained by the analysis of the Raman spectra. The addition of DMSO or DESO in low concentration resulted to sensitively decrease the heat-induced structural modifications of the protein.