2’-Deoxyribose mediated glycation leads to alterations in BSA structure via generation of carbonyl species

The non-enzymatic glycosylation is a very common phenomenon in the physiological conditions which is mediated by distinct chemical entities containing reactive carbonyl species (RCS) and participate in the modification of various macromolecules particularly proteins. Till date, various carbonyl species, i.e., glucose, fructose, D-ribose and methylglyoxal have been used frequently to assess the in-vitro non-enzymatic glycosylation. Similarly, 2'-Deoxyribose is one of the most abundant reducing sugar of the living organisms which forms the part of deoxyribonucleic acid and may react with proteins leading to the production of glycation intermediates, advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and highly reactive RCS. Thymidine phosphorylase derived degradation of thymidine contributes to the formation of 2'-Deoxyribose, therefore, acting as a major source of cellular 2'-Deoxyribose. Since albumin is a major serum protein which plays various roles including binding and transporting endogenous and exogenous ligands, it is more prone to be modified through different physiological modifiers; therefore it may serve as a model protein for in-vitro experiments to study the effect of 2'Deoxyribose mediated modifications in the protein. In this study, Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) was glycated with 50 and 100 mM 2'-Deoxyribose followed by examining secondary and tertiary structural modifications in BSA as compared to its native (unmodified) form by using various physicochemical techniques. We evident a significant modification in 2'-Deoxyribose-glycated BSA which was confirmed through increased hyperchromicity, keto amine moieties, carbonyl and hydroxymethyl furfural content, fluorescent AGEs, altered secondary structure conformers (alpha helix and beta sheets), band shift in the amide-I region and diminished free lysine and free arginine content. These modifications were reported to be higher in 100 mM 2'-Deoxyribose-glycated BSA than 50 mM 2'-Deoxyribose-glycated BSA. Our findings also demonstrated that the rate of glycation is positively affected by the increased concentration of 2'-Deoxyribose. The results of the performed study can be implied to uncover the phenomenon of serum protein damage caused by 2'-Deoxyribose leading towards diabetic complications and number of AGE-related diseases.