Fatty acid acylation of RNase A using reversed micelles as microreactors

A water soluble protein, RNAse A, was fatty-acylated using AOT reversed micelles in 2,2,4-trimethyl pentane as microreactors and myristoyl chloride as reagent. Artificial attachment of lipid molecules to this protein was performed for different hydration degrees by changing Wo = [water]/ [AOT], the parameter which controls the microreactor size. The chemically modified protein was monitored using reverse phase HPLC and characterized by HPLC, free amino groups titration, and electrophoresis. An RNase A/myristoyl chloride ratio of 1:4 (mol/mol) at Wo = 7 was found to give 60% of modified protein.