Improvement of the CuZn-superoxide dismutase enzyme activity and stability as a therapeutic agent by modification with polysialic acids
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 9, 2026

Assay Development for High Content Quantification of Sod1 Mutant Protein Aggregate Formation in Living Cells
Published on: October 4, 2017
Jian Rong Wu1, Yi Lin, Zhi Yong Zheng
1Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, People's Republic of China. kinowu@jiangnan.edu.cn
Abstract:
The optimal process for the polysialylation reaction was as follows: polysialicacid (PSA) was activated by periodate oxidation, then coupled to CuZn superoxide dismutase (SOD) with a PSA:SOD molar ratio of 40:1 for 24 h. The resulting polysialylated protein contained 3.9 ± 0.3 mol PSA per mol SOD. SDS-PAGE and atomic force microscopy revealed that the molecular weight of polysialylated SOD was about 90-100 kDa. The average size was 10-15 nm, about four-fold of the native enzyme. Compared to the native enzyme, the activity and stability of the polysialylated SOD, as well as resistance to heat, acid, alkali and proteases present in human digestive system such as pepsin and trypsin, were improved significantly as therapeutic agent.
