Unfolding of poly-L-glutamic acid by microbubbling of supercritical carbon dioxide.

The conformational changes in alpha-helical poly-L-glutamic acid caused by microbubbling supercritical CO2 were investigated with circular dichroism spectra. After microbubbling using a micropore filter at 35 and 30 MPa for 30 min, alpha-helix content decreased to 37%, while without the filter it was 68%. The alpha-helix structure was significantly decomposed by a high density of CO2. No important changes were observed in heating, autoclaving, or pH-lowering.