Denaturation temperature of dried lens tissue rises with trehalose pretreatment

Trehalose, a non-reducing disaccharide, is known as an exceptional protector against desiccation and heat stress. Differential scanning calorimetry is a simple tool to determine thermodynamic parameters concerning the structural state of proteins. In this study, we measured denaturation temperature (or melting temperature) of dried lenses to know the effect of trehalose pretreatment. Isolated porcine lenses were incubated in wells without any solution or with saline, 100 mM trehalose, or 100 mM cyclic tetrasaccharide in saline at room temperature for 150 min. The solutions were removed, and all lens samples were dried at room temperature and in room humidity until the weight showed no change. The nucleus of each sample was taken out and placed on a measuring platform for differential scanning calorimetry. The denaturation temperature of the dried lenses significantly rose by about 10 °C with 100 mM trehalose pretreatment, compared to no pretreatment, pretreatment with saline or 100 mM cyclic tetrasaccharide (P < 0.05, analysis of variance, P < 0.05, Student-Newman-Keuls tests, n = 7). The denaturation temperature showed no difference among the dried lenses with no pretreatment or pretreatment by saline or cyclic tetrasaccharide. In conclusion, pretreatment with trehalose raises denaturation temperature of the dried porcine lens. Trehalose might stabilize the dried tissue structure to get a higher denaturation temperature.