Quantitative Characterization of Polymer-Polymer, Protein-Protein, and Polymer-Protein Interaction via Tracer Sedimentation Equilibrium

Quantitative analysis of the composition dependence of the concentration gradient of each species of macromolecule within a solution mixture at sedimentation equilibrium permits the quantitative characterization of self- and heterointeractions between sedimenting solutes. Sedimentation equilibrium experiments were conducted on solutions containing a trace concentration of FITC-labeled BSA in varying concentrations of Ficoll 70 and on solutions containing a trace concentration of FITC-labeled Ficoll 70 in varying concentrations of BSA. The equilibrium gradient of each solute component in each mixture was measured independently. Analysis of the resulting gradients resulted in evaluation of the dependence of the activity coefficient of Ficoll upon the concentrations of Ficoll and BSA at concentrations of up to 100 g/L and the dependence of the activity coefficient of BSA upon the concentrations of Ficoll and BSA at concentrations of up to 100 g/L. The activity coefficients of both species increase significantly with increasing Ficoll and BSA concentration and do not vary with temperature, to within the precision of measurement, over the temperature range of 5-37 degrees C, indicating that the dominant interaction between Ficoll molecules and between BSA and Ficoll molecules is repulsive and probably due to steric volume exclusion. The measured dependences may be accounted for quantitatively by a simple model in which BSA and Ficoll 70 are represented by equivalent rigid particles.