SANS/SAXS study of the BSA solvation properties in aqueous urea solutions via a global fit approach

We report on the solvation properties and intermolecular interactions of a model protein (bovine serum albumine, BSA) in urea aqueous solutions, as obtained by combining small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering experiments. According to a global fit strategy, all the whole set of scattering curves are analysed by considering a unique model which includes the BSA structure, the protein-protein interactions and the thermodynamic exchange process of water/urea molecules at the protein solvent interface. As a main result, the equilibrium constant that accounts for the difference in composition between the bulk solvent and the protein solvation layer is derived. Results confirm that urea preferentially sticks to the protein surface, inducing a noticeable change in both the repulsive and the attractive interaction potentials.     

PM-IRRAS investigation of the interaction of serum albumin and fibrinogen with a biomedical-grade stainless steel 316LVM surface

Polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) was applied to investigate the interaction of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and fibrinogen with a biomedical-grade 316LVM stainless steel surface, in terms of the adsorption thermodynamics and adsorption-induced secondary structure changes of the proteins. Highly negative apparent Gibbs energy of adsorption values revealed a spontaneous adsorption of both proteins onto the surface, accompanied by significant changes in their secondary structure. It was determined that, at saturated surface coverages, lateral interactions between the adsorbed BSA molecules induced rather extensive secondary structure changes. Fibrinogen's two coiled coils appeared to undergo negligible secondary structure changes upon adsorption of the protein, while large structural rearrangements of the protein's globular domains occurred upon adsorption. The secondary structure of adsorbed fibrinogen was not influenced by lateral interactions between the adsorbed fibrinogen molecules. PM-IRRAS was deemed to be viable for investigating protein adsorption and for obtaining information on adsorption-induced changes in their secondary structures.     

Influence of the NaCl or CaCl2 concentration on the structure of heat-set bovine serum albumin gels at pH 7

The structure of heat-set systems of the globular protein bovine serum albumin (BSA) was investigated at pH 7 in different salt conditions (NaCl or CaCl(2)) using light scattering. Cross-correlation dynamic light scattering was used to correct for multiple scattering from turbid samples. After heat treatment, aggregates are formed whose size increases as the protein concentration increases. Beyond a critical concentration that decreases with increasing salt concentration, gels are formed. The heterogeneity and the reduced turbidity of the gels were found to increase with increasing salt concentration and to decrease with increasing protein concentration. The structure of the gels is determined by the strength of the repulsive electrostatic interactions between the aggregated proteins. The results obtained in NaCl are similar to those reported in previous studies for other globular proteins. CaCl(2) was found to be much more efficient in reducing electrostatic interactions than NaCl at the same ionic strength.     

The effect of surface coverage and conformation of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) chains of poloxamer 407 on the biological fate of model colloidal drug carriers

Poloxamer 407 was adsorbed onto the surface of model colloidal drug carriers, polystyrene nanoparticles of 40, 70 and 137 nm in diameter, and the effect of the degree of surface coverage and the conformation of the poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) chains on biological fate was studied. The relationship between the physicochemical and the biological properties of the nanoparticle systems was also investigated. The adsorbed layer of poloxamer 407 was characterised in terms of percentage surface coverage, thickness of the adsorbed layer and average surface area per PEO chain. Computer modelling of the adsorbed layer was performed (applying the self-consistent field technique), to obtain the structural information of the PEO chains in the layer. The in vitro interaction of the nanoparticles with different degrees of poloxamer 407 surface coverage with serum components and the in vivo biodistribution in the rat model were assessed. The results demonstrated that an increase in the surface coverage with poloxamer 407 resulted in an increased volume fraction of the PEO in the adsorbed layer, further extension of the PEO chains from the surface and closer packing of the chains at the surface. With regard to the interaction with the serum components, an increased surface coverage resulted in a reduction of the amount of serum proteins adsorbed, and, importantly, affected the type of proteins adsorbed. High molecular weight proteins were not adsorbed onto the nanoparticles with a surface coverage above approx. 25%. Following the intravenous administration to rats, even the nanoparticles with the lowest degree of surface coverage (approx. 5%) showed improved circulation profiles relative to the uncoated nanoparticles. The effect was more pronounced for the 40 nm nanoparticles. A further increase in the surface coverage to approx. 25% resulted in a significant increase in circulation time, as compared to uncoated and 5% coated systems, for all sizes of nanoparticles. Importantly, it was found that a long in vivo blood circulation time could be achieved for nanoparticles with a relatively low degree of surface coverage with PEO chains.     

Surfactant protein D is a divalent cation-dependent carbohydrate-binding protein

Surfactant protein D (SP-D, CP4) is a collagenous surfactant-associated glycoprotein synthesized by lung type II epithelial cells. SP-D can be selectively and efficiently eluted from isolated rat surfactant with glucose, maltose, and certain other saccharides. We therefore examined the ability of the purified protein to interact with carbohydrates in vitro. Saccharide-substituted bovine serum albumins (BSA neoglycoproteins) were adsorbed to plastic wells, and binding of purified SP-D was quantified with monospecific antibodies to SP-D using an indirect immunoassay. SP-D showed specific calcium-dependent binding to alpha-D-glucosidophenyl isothiocyanate-BSA and maltosyl-BSA, but negligible binding to beta-D-glucosidophenyl isothiocyanate-BSA or unconjugated BSA. The most efficient inhibitors of SP-D binding were alpha-glucosyl-containing saccharides (e.g. isomaltose, maltose, malotriose). SP-D showed quantitative binding to maltosyl-agarose and was specifically eluted with maltose or EDTA. High affinity binding to maltosyl-BSA was also demonstrated using a solution-phase polyethylene glycol precipitation assay. These studies demonstrate that SP-D is a calcium dependent lectin-like protein and that the association of SP-D with surfactant is mediated by carbohydrate-dependent interactions with specificity for alpha-glucosyl residues.     

Tuning the formation and rupture of single ligand-receptor bonds by hyaluronan-induced repulsion

We used a combination of laminar flow chamber and reflection interference microscopy to study the formation and rupture of single bonds formed between Fc-ICAM-1 attached to a substrate and anti-ICAM-1 carried by micrometric beads in the presence of a repulsive hyaluronan (HA) layer adsorbed onto the substrate. The absolute distance between the colloids and the surface was measured under flow with an accuracy of a few nanometers. We could verify the long-term prediction of classical lubrication theory for the movement of a sphere near a wall in a shear flow. The HA polymer layer exerted long-range repulsive steric force on the beads and the hydrodynamics at the boundary remained more or less unchanged. By incubating HA at various concentrations, the thickness of the layer, as estimated by beads most probable height, was tuned in the range 20-200 nm. Frequency of bond formation was decreased by more than one order of magnitude by increasing the thickness of the repulsive layer, while the lifetime of individual bonds was not affected. This study opens the way for further quantitative studies of the effect of molecular environment and separation distance on ligand-receptor association and dissociation.     

原位椭圆偏振术研究牛血清清蛋白在固/液界面的吸附

用原位椭圆偏振术系统研究了硅片表面因素及缓冲液环境因素对牛血清清蛋白在固/液界面吸附的影响。在生理条件下,疏水表面与亲水表面相比BSA吸附量较大。随着硅片表面电荷密度增加,BSA吸附量增加。BSA吸附量当体溶液pH值等于BSA等电点时达到最大。而随着体溶液离子强度增加,BSA吸附量亦上升。实验结果提示:除了熵驱动作用之外,硅片表面与BSA分子及BSA分子之间的静电作用在BSA吸附中起着十分重要的作用。     

Chemisorption of proteins and their thiol derivatives onto gold surfaces: characterization based on electrochemical nonlinearity

This study was conducted to monitor the electrochemical responses of two proteins (bovine serum albumin (BSA) and gelatin) and their thiol derivatives adsorbed onto gold (Au) electrodes, which were analyzed by a "nonlinear" impedance method. A sinusoidal voltage is applied to a protein-containing aqueous solution and the waveform of the output current is analyzed by fast Fourier transformation (FFT). The intensities of the higher harmonics in the FFT varied with the species of protein and their thiol derivatives, and with time. From the higher harmonics, voltage-dependent capacitance and conductance were quantitatively evaluated to differentiate the state of adsorbed protein. Adsorption and desorption characteristics of BSA and its thiol derivative on the Au surface were continuously measured by a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) in situ. The microscopic state of thiol-derivatized BSA adsorbed onto the Au surface was imaged by atomic force microscopy (AFM). In general, thiol-derivatized proteins were tightly adsorbed on the Au surface and showed no desorption. The present electrochemical measurements clearly differentiated adsorption characteristics of physically adsorbed (physisorbed) and chemically adsorbed (chemisorbed) proteins on Au surfaces.     

Dynamic Light Scattering Application to Study Protein Interactions in Electrolyte Solutions

The concentration dependence of the diffusion coefficient of particles suspended in solution depends primarily on the occupied volume fraction and on repulsive and attractive forces. This dependency is expressed by the interaction parameter, which can be assessed experimentally by light scattering measurements and have been determined for the diffusion coefficient of BSA under different salt concentration conditions in the present work. The result shows that the diffusion coefficient of protein grows up with increasing protein concentration, and when the ionic strength turns up gradually the diffusion coefficient decreases with protein concentrations increasing. The concentration dependence of BSA diffusion coefficients is interpreted in the context of a two-body potential of mean force, which includes repulsive hard-sphere and Coulombic interactions and attractive dispersion. With the increase of ionic strength, Debye screening decreases, protein interaction changes from repulsion to attraction, and protein begins to aggregate. By means of the concentration dependence of BSA diffusion coefficients, one can obtain the parameters of protein interactions and can find that protein bears a net effective charge of –9.0 e and has a Hamaker constant of 2.8k_BT. This work demonstrates that DLS is an effective technique of studying protein interactions.     

Direct monitoring of molecular recognition processes using fluorescence enhancement at colloid-coated microplates

Direct monitoring of recognition processes at the molecular level is a valuable tool for studying reaction kinetics to assess affinity constants (e.g. drugs to receptors) and for designing rapid single step immunoassays. Methods currently used to gain information about binding processes predominantly depend on surface plasmon resonance. These systems use excitation with coherent light in attenuated total reflection geometry to obtain discrimination between surface-bound and free molecules in solution. Therefore labeling of the compounds is not necessary, but due to the complexity of the measuring setup the method is rather costly. In this contribution we present a simple method for performing kinetic single step biorecognition assays with fluorophore labeled compounds using the fluorescence enhancement properties of surface bound silver colloids. Silver colloids are bound to standard microplates via silanization of the plastic surface. Fluorophores close to this colloid coated surface show a significant gain in fluorescence compared to fluorophores farther away in the bulk solution. Therefore discrimination between surface bound and free fluorophores is possible and the binding of, for example, fluorophore labeled antibodies to antigens immobilized on the colloid surface results in increasing fluorescence intensity. Utilization of standard microplates makes this method fully compatible with conventional microplate processing and reading devices. Neither excitation with coherent laser light nor ATR geometry is required, the measurement is performed in a standard fluorescence microplate reader in front face geometry with a xenon flash lamp as excitation source. Methods for the preparation of colloid-coated microplates and fluorescence-enhanced biorecognition assays are presented. Additionally the dependence of the system performance on the structure and properties of the metal colloid coated surface is described. A two-component biorecognition model system shows a detection limit in the subnanomolar range. The ease of colloid-surface preparation and the high sensitivity makes fluorescence enhancement at colloid-coated microplates a valuable tool for studying reaction kinetics and performing rapid single-step immunoassays.     

Exchangeable Colloidal AFM Probes for the Quantification of Irreversible and Long-Term Interactions

An original method is presented to study single-colloid interaction with a substrate in liquid environment. Colloids, either in solution or adsorbed on a surface, are fixed by suction against the aperture of a microchanneled atomic force microscopy cantilever. Their adhesion to the substrate is measured, followed by their release via a short overpressure surge. Such colloid exchange procedure allows for 1), the quick variation of differently functionalized colloids within the same experiment; 2), the investigation of long-term interactions by leaving the colloids on a surface for a defined time before detaching them; and 3), the inspection of irreversible interactions. After validation of the method by reproducing literature results obtained with traditional colloidal atomic force microscopy, the serial use of colloids with different surface functionalization was shown on a micropatterned surface. Finally, concanavalin A-coated colloids were allowed to adsorb on human embryonic kidney cells and then detached one by one. The adhesion between cells and colloids was up to 60 nN, whereas individual cells adhered with 20 nN to the glass substrate. A cellular elastic modulus of 0.8 kPa was determined using the attached colloid as indenter.     

Physicochemical Studies on the Interaction between N-Decanoyl-N-methylglucamide and Bovine Serum Albumin

The protein-surfactant system constituted by bovine serum albumin (BSA) and N-decanoyl-N-methylglucamide (MEGA-10) has been studied by using surface tension, steady-state fluorescence, and dynamic light scattering measurements. It was found that the presence of protein delays the surfactant aggregation, which was interpreted as a sign of binding between surfactant and protein. Binding studies were carried out by two different methods. First, a treatment based on surface tension measurements was used to obtain information on the number of surfactant molecules bound per protein molecule under saturation conditions. Second, the binding curve for the BSA/MEGA-10 system was determined by examining the behavior of the intrinsic BSA fluorescence upon the surfactant addition. Both approaches indicate that the binding process is essentially cooperative in nature. The results of the aggregation numbers of MEGA-10 micelles, as well as those of resonance energy transfer from tryptophan residues to 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonate, corroborate the formation of micelle-like aggregates of surfactants, smaller than the free micelles, adsorbed on the protein surface. The dynamic light scattering results were not conclusive, in the sense that it was not possible to discriminate between protein-surfactant complexes and free micelles. However, the overall results suggest the formation of "pearl necklace" complexes in equilibrium with the free micelles of the surfactant.     

Interactions between PAMAM dendrimers and bovine serum albumin

Dendrimers are a new class of polymeric materials. They are globular, highly branched, monodisperse macromolecules. Due to their structure, dendrimers promise to be new, effective biomedical materials as oligonucleotide transfection agents and drug carriers. More information about biological properties of dendrimers is crucial for further investigation of dendrimers in therapeutic applications.In this study the mechanism of interactions between polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was examined. PAMAM dendrimers are based on an ethylenediamine core and branched units are constructed from both methyl acrylate and ethylenediamine. We used three types of PAMAM dendrimers with different surface groups (-COOH, -NH(2), -OH). As BSA contains two tryptophan residues we were able to evaluate dendrimers influence on protein molecular conformation by measuring the changes in the fluorescence of BSA in the presence of dendrimers. Additionally experiments with a fluorescent probe 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonic acid (ANS) were carried out. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was chosen to investigate impact on protein thermal stability upon the dendrimers.Our experiments showed that the extent of the interactions between BSA and dendrimers strongly depends on their surface groups and is the biggest for amino-terminated dendrimers.     

Roles of the Domain I Segment in Emulsifying Properties of Bovine Serum Albumin

Emulsifying properties of bovine serum albumin (BSA) were compared between intact BSA (molecular mass of 66 kDa) and the domain I-truncated fragment (molecular mass of 45 kDa). The particle size considerably decreased with increasing both intact BSA and the fragment concentration. The intact BSA formed a more homogeneous emulsion and smaller particle distributions than the fragment at all protein concentrations. The relative amount of protein adsorbed at an oil-water interface was much less for intact BSA than for the fragment, and the surface concentration of intact BSA per unit surface area was also much less than that of the fragment, indicating that less protein is required to form a stable film for intact BSA than for the fragment. The particle size distribution in the fragment-stabilized emulsion became more homogeneous during storage time, while that in intact BSA-stabilized BSA had no significant change. These results strongly suggested that the domain I-truncated fragment with a higher hydrophobic value is more favorable toward the oil phase, while the highly charged domain I segment inhibits the droplet association, and consequently is important in stabilizing droplets dispersed in the emulsion.     

A quantitative and selective chromatography method for determining coverages of multiple proteins on surfaces

Competitive protein adsorption plays a key role in the surface hemocompatibility of biological implants. We describe a quantitative chromatography method to measure the coverage of multiple proteins physisorbed to surfaces. In this method adsorbed proteins are displaced by CHAPS (3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonate) and then analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography to separate and quantify the individual proteins, in this case bovine serum albumin (BSA) and bovine fibrinogen (Fg). CHAPS displaced over 95% of the adsorbed proteins and was easily removed from solution by dialysis. This method was tested by measuring the coverage of BSA, 66 kDa, and Fg, 340 kDa, simultaneously adsorbed from solutions with concentration of 20 microg/ml, on bare and dextranized silicon. Relative to silicon, the dextranized surfaces were found to strongly inhibit protein adsorption, decreasing BSA and Fg coverages by 76 and 60%, respectively.     

Modification of cellulose films by adsorption of CMC and chitosan for controlled attachment of biomolecules

The adsorption of human immunoglobulin G (hIgG) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) on cellulose supports were investigated. The dynamics and extent of related adsorption processes were monitored by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). Amine groups were installed on the cellulose substrate by adsorption of chitosan from aqueous solution, which allowed for hIgG to physisorb from acid media and produced a functionalized substrate with high surface density (10 mg/m(2)). hIgG adsorption from neutral and alkaline conditions was found to yield lower adsorbed amounts. The installation of the carboxyl groups on cellulose substrate via carboxymethylated cellulose (CMC) adsorption from aqueous solution enhanced the physisorption of hIgG at acidic (adsorbed amount of 5.6 mg/m(2)) and neutral conditions. hIgG adsorption from alkaline conditions reduced the surface density. BSA was used to examine protein attachment on cellulose after modification with chitosan or carboxymethyl cellulose. At the isoelectric point of BSA (pI 5), both of the surface modifications enhanced the adsorption of this protein when compared to that on unmodified cellulose (a 2-fold increase from 1.7 to 3.5 mg/m(2)). At pH 4, the electrostatic interactions favored the adsorption of BSA on the CMC-modified cellulose, revealing the affinity of the system and the possibility of tailoring biomolecule binding by choice of the surface modifier and pH of the medium.     

Novel thymine-functionalized polystyrenes for applications in biotechnology. 2. Adsorption of model proteins

This paper investigates the adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and bovine hemoglobin (BHb) model proteins onto novel thymine-functionalized polystyrene (PS-VBT) microspheres, in comparison with polystyrene (PS) microspheres. Maximum adsorption was obtained for both proteins near their corresponding isoelectric points (pI at pH = 4.7 for BSA and 7.1 for BHb). FTIR and adsorption isotherm analysis demonstrated that, although both proteins were physisorbed onto PS through nonspecific hydrophobic interactions, adsorption onto the functionalized copolymers occurred by both physisorption and chemisorption via hydrogen bonding. FTIR analysis also indicated conformational changes in the secondary structure of BSA and BHb adsorbed onto PS, whereas little or no conformation change was seen in the case of adsorption onto PS-VBT. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), consistent with the isotherm results, also demonstrated monolayer adsorption for both proteins. AFM images of BSA adsorbed onto copolymers with 20 mol % surface VBT loading showed exclusively end-on orientation. Adsorption onto copolymers with lower functionality showed mixed end-on and side-on orientation modes of BSA, and only the side-on orientation was observed on PS. The AFM results agreed well with theoretically calculated and experimentally obtained adsorption capacities. AFM together with calculated and observed adsorption capacity data for BHb indicated that this protein might be highly compressed on the copolymer surface. Adsorption from a binary mixture of BSA and BHb onto PS-VBT showed good separation at pH=7.0; approximately 90% of the adsorbed protein was BHb. The novel copolymers have potential applications in biotechnology.     

Role of hydrophobic and polar interactions for BSA-amphiphile composites

To evaluate the role of hydrophobic and electrostatic or other polar interactions for protein–ligand binding, we have studied the interactions of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with 2-alkylmalonic acid and 2-alkylbenzimidazole amphiphiles having different head group and alkyl chain length. The binding affinity for the protein–amphiphile interactions is found to depend predominantly on the length of hydrocarbon chain, suggesting the crucial role of hydrophobic forces, supported by polar interactions at the protein surface. The BSA fluorescence exhibits appreciable hypsochromic shift along with a reduction in fluorescence intensity and mean lifetime upon binding with 2-alkylmalonic acid. UV–visible, steady state and time-resolved fluorescence measurements were performed to compare the effects of amphiphiles on BSA as a function of the amphiphiles head group and alkyl chain length.     

Interaction of piroxicam with bovine serum albumin investigated by spectroscopic,calorimetric and computational molecular methods

Abstract

The binding of drugs to serum proteins is governed by weak non-covalent forces. In this study, the nature and magnitude of the interactions between piroxicam (PRX) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was assessed using spectroscopic, calorimetric and computational molecular methods. The fluorescence data revealed an atypical behavior during PRX and BSA interaction. The quenching process of tryptophan (Trp) by PRX is a dual one (approximately equal static and dynamic quenched components). The FRET results indicate that a non-radiative transfer of energy occurred. The association constant and the number of binding sites indicate moderate PRX and BSA binding. The competitive binding study indicates that PRX is bound to site I from the hydrophobic pocket of subdomain IIA of BSA. The synchronous spectra showed that the microenvironment around the BSA fluorophores and protein conformation do not change considerably. The Trp lifetimes revealed that PRX mainly quenches the fluorescence of Trp-213 situated in the hydrophobic domain. The CD and DSC investigation show that addition of PRX stabilizes the protein structure. ITC results revealed that BSA-PRX binding involves a combination of electrostatic, hydrophobic and hydrogen interactions. The analysis of the computational data is consistent with the experimental results. This thorough investigation of the PRX-BSA binding may provide support for other studies concerning moderate affinity drugs with serum protein.

Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma     

Time-resolved evanescent wave-induced fluorescence anisotropy for the determination of molecular conformational changes of proteins at an interface

We have shown that the molecular conformation of a protein at an interface can be probed spatially using time-resolved evanescent wave-induced fluorescence spectroscopic (TREWIFS) techniques. Specifically, by varying the penetration depth of the evanescent field, variable-angle TREWIFS, coupled with variable-angle evanescent wave-induced time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy measurements, allow us to monitor how fluorescence intensity and fluorescence depolarization vary normal to an interface as a function of time after excitation. We have applied this technique to the study of bovine serum albumin (BSA) complexed noncovalently with the fluorophore 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonic acid. The fluorescence decay varies as a function of the penetration depth of the evanescent wave in a manner that indicates a gradient of hydrophobicity through the adsorbed protein, normal to the interface. Restriction of the fluorescent probes motion also occurs as a function of distance normal to the interface. The results are consistent with a model of partial protein denaturation: at the surface, an adsorbed BSA molecule unfolds, thus optimizing protein–silica interactions and the number of points of attachment to the surface. Further away, normal to the surface, the protein molecule maintains its coiled structure.Submitted as a record of the 2002 Australian Biophysical Society meeting