Pyrrolization and antioxidant function of proteins following oxidative stress.

The consequences of oxidative stress on microsomal proteins were analyzed by studying their pyrrolization and the antioxidative activity of the modified proteins produced. The microsomal system consisted of freshly prepared trout muscle microsomes, which were oxidized in the presence of 5 microM Cu(2+), 1 mM Fe(3+)/5 mM ascorbate, or 1 mM Cu(2+)/10 mM H(2)O(2). Pyrroles on proteins were detected by forming Ehrlich adducts with p-(dimethylamino)benzaldehyde and by determination of epsilon-N-pyrrolylnorleucine (Pnl) by capillary electrophoresis. Their antioxidative activity was studied by testing two model pyrrolized proteins (dimeric and monomeric modified bovine serum albumin: DBSA and MBSA, respectively), which were produced in the reaction of BSA and 4,5(E)-epoxy-2(E)-heptenal. These proteins were assayed at a concentration of 10-40 microg/mL, which was selected because at this concentration both DBSA and MBSA had a concentration of Pnl similar to the Pnl concentration produced in oxidized microsomes. Both DBSA and MBSA significantly (p < 0.05) protected against lipid peroxidation, assessed by the formation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and protein damage, evaluated by amino acid analysis, for the three systems assayed, and this protection was always higher than that exhibited by BSA, which was used as control. The order of effectiveness was DBSA > MBSA > BSA and was parallel to the Pnl content in the assayed proteins. These results suggest that antioxidative activity of BSA may also be related to its ability to react with lipid oxidation products and to produce modified BSA with antioxidative activity. This mechanism may also be contributing to the antioxidative activity exhibited by many proteins.