Effect of osmolytes on the agreggation kinetics

Osmolytes are small organic molecules which are ubiquitously present in different types of cells and are used by a wide range of organisms to counteract unfavorable physiological conditions that affect the protein stability and function. Osmolytes counteract the deleterious effects on proteins by their favorable interaction with solvent water and their unfavorable interactions with protein surfaces (a combination of backbone and side-chain interactions that varies from osmolyte to osmolyte also known as preferential hydration. Use of osmolytes as a therapeutic tool against protein aggregation which plays a critical role in a growing number of devastating neurodegenerative diseases appears exciting because they are compatible even at higher concentrations and are therefore generally safe. Here we used Bovine carbonic anhydrase a typical model of protein used for the study of protein aggregation because of its high susceptibility to aggregation. Using core biophysical techniques Circular Dichorism Fluorescence spectroscopy Light scattering we tried to explore and understand the in vitro effect of osmolytes on the mechanism of protein aggregation.