Protein-binding polynomials

Abstract

Using a new method recently published for analyzing the binding isotherms of biopolymers (Poland, 2000a), we calculate the complete binding polynomials for lysozyme, insulin, and serum albumin from published titration data. These three proteins have, respectively, 22, 32, and 184 dissociable protons and hence are represented by series in powers of the hydrogen ion concentration with the highest powers in the series being the numbers just indicated. Given the complete binding polynomial, the distribution function giving the concentration of all states of proton binding can then be calculated at any pH.