Abstract
Mucins are the primary macromolecular component of mucus—nature’s natural lubricant—although they are poorly characterised heterogeneous substances. Recent advances in hydrodynamic methodology now offer the opportunity for gaining a better understanding of their solution properties. In this study a combination of such methods was used to provide increased understanding of a preparation of porcine intestinal mucin (PIM), MUC2 mucin, in terms of both heterogeneity and quantification of conformational flexibility. The new sedimentation equilibrium algorithm SEDFIT-MSTAR is applied to yield a weight average (over the whole distribution) molar mass of 7.1 × 106 g mol−1, in complete agreement with size exclusion chromatography coupled with multi-angle light scattering (SEC-MALS), which yielded a value of 7.2 × 106 g mol−1. Sedimentation velocity profiles show mucin to be very polydisperse, with a broad molar mass distribution obtained using the Extended Fujita algorithm, consistent with the elution profiles from SEC-MALS. On-line differential pressure viscometry coupled to the SEC-MALS was used to obtain the intrinsic viscosity [η] as a function of molar mass. These data combined with sedimentation coefficient data into the global conformation algorithm HYDFIT show that PIM has a flexible linear structure, with persistence length L p ~10 nm and mass per unit length, M L ~2380 g mol−1 nm−1, consistent with a Wales-van Holde ratio of ~1.2 obtained from the concentration dependence of the sedimentation coefficient.
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Acknowledgments
FMA is grateful for the support of the University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, for a studentship. Work at the University of Murcia was supported by grant CTQ2012-33717 from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain), including FEDER funds.
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Almutairi, F.M., Cifre, JG.H., Adams, G.G. et al. Application of recent advances in hydrodynamic methods for characterising mucins in solution. Eur Biophys J 45, 45–54 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00249-015-1075-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00249-015-1075-0