A multitechnique approach in protein/surfactant interaction study: physicochemical aspects of sodium dodecyl sulfate in the presence of trypsin in aqueous medium

Exploration of the micellization behavior of sodium dodecyl sulfate in aqueous solution of gastric enzyme pepsin: Assessment of the consequences of sodium electrolytes and temperature

This study explores the interactions between pepsin and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) using conductometric analysis and molecular docking to deepen our understanding of the role of pepsin. Conductometric studies were conducted to examine the micellization behavior of SDS with pepsin in aqueous solutions of various sodium electrolytes (NaBr, Na₂SO₄, Na₃PO₄, and CH₃COONa) at temperatures ranging from 300.55 K to 320.55 K in 5 K increments. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the SDS-pepsin system was influenced by pepsin concentration, electrolyte type, and temperature. Pepsin was found to inhibit SDS micellization, increasing the CMC, while electrolytes promoted micellization, decreasing the CMC. Thermodynamic parameters-Gibbs free energy (∆Gm0), enthalpy (∆Hm0), and entropy (∆Sm0)-were analyzed to identify the driving forces behind micellization. The negative ∆Gm0 indicated spontaneous aggregation, with ∆Hm0 and ∆Sm0 suggesting hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions. Molecular docking further confirmed these interactions, revealing binding between the hydrophobic tail of SDS and nonpolar binding pocket of pepsin at the interdomain cleft. These findings provide insights into surfactant-enzyme interactions, with potential applications in biochemistry, pharmacology, and food science.

Modulating protein unfolding and refolding via the synergistic association of an anionic and a nonionic surfactant

HYPOTHESIS

Nonionic surfactants can counter the deleterious effect that anionic surfactants have on proteins, where the folded states are retrieved from a previously unfolded state. However, further studies are required to refine our understanding of the underlying mechanism of the refolding process. While interactions between nonionic surfactants and tightly folded proteins are not anticipated, we hypothesized that intermediate stages of surfactant-induced unfolding could define new interaction mechanisms by which nonionic surfactants can further alter protein conformation.

EXPERIMENTS

In this work, the behavior of three model proteins (human growth hormone, bovine serum albumin, and β-lactoglobulin) was investigated in the presence of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecylsulfate, the nonionic surfactant β-dodecylmaltoside, and mixtures of both surfactants. The transitions occurring to the proteins were determined using intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy and far-UV circular dichroism. Based on these results, we developed a detailed interaction model for human growth hormone. Using nuclear magnetic resonance and contrast-variation small-angle neutron scattering, we studied the amino acid environment and the conformational state of the protein.

FINDINGS

The results demonstrate the key role of surfactant cooperation in defining the conformational state of the proteins, which can shift away or toward the folded state depending on the nonionic-to-ionic surfactant ratio. Dodecylmaltoside, initially a non-interacting surfactant, can unexpectedly associate with sodium dodecylsulfate-unfolded proteins to further impact their conformation at low nonionic-to-ionic surfactant ratio. When this ratio increases, the protein begins to retrieve the folded state. However, the native conformation cannot be fully recovered due to remnant surfactant molecules still adsorbed to the protein. This study demonstrates that the conformational landscape of the protein depends on a delicate interplay between the surfactants, ultimately controlled by the ratio between them, resulting in unpredictable changes in the protein conformation.

Impact of Surfactants on Cumulative Trypsin Activity in Bottom-Up Proteome Analysis

Trypsin digestion plays a pivotal role in successful bottom-up peptide characterization and quantitation. While denaturants are often incorporated to enhance protein solubility, surfactants are recognized to inhibit enzyme activity. However, several reports have suggested that incorporating surfactants or other solvent additives may enhance digestion and MS detection. Here, we assess the impacts of ionic surfactants on cumulative trypsin activity and subsequently evaluate the total digestion efficiency of a proteome mixture by quantitative MS. Although low surfactant concentrations, such as 0.01% SDS or 0.2% SDC, significantly enhanced the initial trypsin activity (by 14 or 42%, respectively), time course assays revealed accelerated enzyme deactivation, evident by 10- or 40-fold reductions in trypsin activity half-life at these respective surfactant concentrations. Despite enhanced initial tryptic activity, quantitative MS analysis of a common liver proteome extract, digested with various surfactants (0.01 or 0.1% SDS, 0.5% SDC), consistently revealed decreased peptide counts and signal intensity, indicative of a lower digestion efficiency compared to a nonsurfactant control. Furthermore, including detergents for digestion did not improve the detection of membrane proteins, nor hydrophobic peptides. These results stress the importance of assessing cumulative enzyme activity when optimizing the digestion of a proteome mixture, particularly in the presence of denaturants.

Addressing the interaction of stem bromelain with different anionic surfactants, below, at and above the critical micelle concentration (cmc) in phosphate buffer at pH 7: Physicochemical, spectroscopic, & molecular docking study

The structural stability and therapeutic activity of Stem Bromelain (BM) have been explored by unravelling the interaction of stem BM in presence of two different types of anionic surfactants namely, bile salts, NaC and NaDC and the conventional anionic surfactants, SDDS and SDBS, below, at and above the critical micelle concentration (cmc) in aqueous phosphate buffer of pH 7. Different physicochemical parameters like, surface excess (Γcmc), minimum area of surfactants at air water interface (Amin) etc. are calculated from tensiometry both in absence and presence of BM. Several inflection points (C1, C2 and C3) have been found in tensiometry profile of surfactants in presence of BM due to the conformational change of BM assisted by surfactants. Similar observation also found in isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) profiles where the enthalpy of micellization (ΔH0obs) of surfactants in absence and presence of BM have calculated. Further, steady state absorption and fluorescence spectra monitoring the tryptophan (Trp) emission of free BM and in presence of all the surfactants at three different temperatures (288.15 K, 298.15 K, and 308.15 K) reveal the nature of fluorescence quenching of BM in presence of bile salts/surfactants. Time resolved fluorescence studies at room temperature also support to determine the several quenching parameters. The binding constant (Kb) of BM with all the surfactants and free energy of binding (∆G0 of bile salts/surfactants with BM at different temperatures have been calculated exploiting steady state fluorescence technique. It is observed that, the binding of NaC with BM is greater as compared to other surfactants while Stern-Volmer quenching constant (KSV) is found greater in presence of SDBS as compared with others which supports the surface tension and ITC data with the fact that surface activity of surfactant(s) is decreasing with the binding of the surfactants at the core or binding pocket of BM. Circular Dichroism (CD) study shows the stability of secondary structure of BM in presence of NaC and NaDC below C3, while BM lost its structural stability even at very low surfactant concentration of SDDS and SDBS which also supports the more involvement of bile salts in binding rather than surfactants. The molecular docking studies have also been substantiated for better understanding the several experimental investigations interaction of BM with the bile salts/surfactants.

Interaction between gastric enzyme pepsin and tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide in presence of sodium electrolytes: Exploration of micellization behavior

Pepsin is a proteolytic enzyme used in the treatment of digestive disorders. In this study, we investigated the physicochemical properties of the tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB) and pepsin protein mixture in various sodium salt media within a temperature range of 300.55-320.55 K with 5 K intervals. The conductometric study of the TTAB+pepsin mixture revealed a reduction in the critical micelle concentration (CMC) in electrolyte media. The micellization of TTAB was delayed in the presence of pepsin. The CMC of the TTAB + pepsin mixture was found to depend on the concentrations of electrolytes and protein, as well as the temperature variations. The aggregation of the TTAB+pepsin mixture was hindered as a function of [pepsin] and increasing temperatures, while micellization was promoted in aqueous electrolyte solutions. The negative free energy changes (∆Gm0) indicated the spontaneous aggregation of the TTAB+pepsin mixture. Changes in enthalpy, entropy, molar heat capacities, transfer properties, and enthalpy-entropy compensation variables were calculated and illustrated rationally. The interaction forces between TTAB and pepsin protein in the experimental solvents were primarily hydrophobic and electrostatic (ion-dipole) in nature. An analysis of molecular docking revealed hydrophobic interactions as the main stabilizing forces in the TTAB-pepsin complex.

Binding interactions of cationic gemini surfactants with gold nanoparticles-conjugated bovine serum albumin: A FRET/NSET, spectroscopic, and docking study

This work demonstrates binding interactions of two cationic gemini surfactants, 12-4-12,2Br^- and 12-8-12,2Br^- with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)-conjugated bovine serum albumin (BSA) presenting binding isotherms from specific binding to saturation binding regions of surfactants. The binding isotherm has been successfully constructed using Förster's resonance energy transfer (FRET) and nanometal surface energy transfer (NSET) parameters calculated based on fluorescence quenching of donor, tryptophan (Trp) residue by acceptor, AuNP. Energy transfer efficiency (E_T) changes due to alteration in the donor-acceptor distance when surfactants interact with bioconjugates. A solid reverse relationship between α-helix and β-turn contents of BSA-AuNPs-conjugates is noted while interacting with surfactants. 12-8-12,2Br^- shows stronger binding interactions with BSA-bioconjugates than 12-4-12,2Br^-. The effect of bioconjugation on secondary/tertiary structures of BSA in the absence and presence of a surfactant is studied through circular dichroism, fluorescence, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic measurements. Motional restrictions imposed by AuNPs on Trp residues of folded and unfolded BSA have been investigated using red edge emission shift (REES) measurements. Finally, the molecular docking results present the modes of interactions of 12-4-12,2Br^- and 12-8-12,2Br^-, and Au-nanoclusters (Au₉₂) with BSA. An approach to describe the binding isotherms of surfactants using AuNPs-bioconjugates as optical-based molecular ruler and possible effects of AuNPs on microenvironment and conformations of the protein is presented.

Influence of zinc doping on the molecular biocompatibility of cadmium-based quantum dots: Insights from the interaction with trypsin

Doping quantum dots (QDs) with extra element presents a promising future for their applications in the fields of environmental monitoring, commercial products and biomedical sciences. However, it remains unknown for the influence of doping on the molecular biocompatibility of QDs and the underlying mechanisms of the interaction between doped-QDs and protein molecules. Using the "one-pot" method, we synthesized N-acetyl-l-cysteine capped CdTe: Zn²⁺ QDs with higher fluorescence quantum yield, improved stability and better molecular biocompatibility compared with undoped CdTe QDs. Using digestive enzyme trypsin (TRY) as the protein model, the interactions of undoped QDs and Zn-doped QDs with TRY as well as the underlying mechanisms were investigated using multi-spectroscopy, isothermal titration calorimetry and dialysis techniques. Van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonds are the major driving forces in the interaction of both QDs with TRY, which leading to the loosening of protein skeleton and tertiary structural changes. Compared with undoped QDs, Zn-doped QDs bind less amount of TRY with a higher affinity and then release higher amount of Cd. Zn-doped QDs have a less stimulating impact on TRY activity by decreasing TRY binding and reducing Cd binding to TRY. Taken all together, Zn-doped QDs offer a safer alternative for the applications of QDs by reducing unwanted interactions with proteins and improving biocompatibility at the molecular level.

Anionic surfactant sulfate dodecyl sodium (SDS)-induced thermodynamics and conformational changes of collagen by ultrasensitive microcalorimetry

Abstract

In this communication, sulfate dodecyl sodium (SDS)-induced thermodynamics and conformational changes of collagen were studied. We used ultrasensitive differential scanning calorimetry (US-DSC) to directly monitor the thermal transition of collagen in the presence of SDS. The results show that SDS affects the conformation and thermal stability of collagen very differently depending on its concentrations. At CSDS ≤ 0.05 mM, the enhanced thermal stability of collagen indicates the stabilizing effect by SDS. However, a further increase of SDS leads to the denaturation of collagen, verifying the well-known ability of SDS to unfold proteins. This striking difference in thermodynamics and conformational changes of collagen caused by SDS concentrations can be explained in terms of their interactions. With increasing SDS, the binding of SDS to collagen can be dominated by electrostatic interaction shifting to hydrophobic interaction, and the latter plays a key role in loosening and unfolding the triple-helix structure of collagen. The important finding in the present study is the stabilizing effect of SDS on collagen molecules at extreme low concentration.

Graphical abstract

Contrastive Study of the Foaming Properties of N-Acyl Amino Acid Surfactants with Bovine Serum Albumin and Gelatin

A detailed study on the foamability, foam stability, foam liquid-carrying capacity, and foam morphology of two N-acyl amino acid surfactants with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and gelatin were performed by foam scanning. The results showed that the foamability of the mixed system increased gradually and then tended to be stable with increasing surfactant concentration. The foamability of the high-concentration BSA system was stronger than that of the low-concentration BSA system. The foamability and foam stability of sodium N-lauroyl phenylpropanoic acid (N-C₁₂P)/BSA were better than those of sodium N-lauroyl propylamino acid (N-C₁₂A)/BSA, and the foamability and foam stability of N-C₁₂A/gelatin was better than those of N-C₁₂P/gelatin. The liquid-carrying capacity of the foam initially increased and then decreased with increasing time, and the maximum liquid-carrying capacity increased with increasing surfactant concentration. When the concentration of the surfactant was 8 mM, the drainage rate of N-C₁₂A/protein was higher than that of N-C₁₂P/protein. The morphology of the bubble gradually changed from spherical to polyhedron and the number of bubbles gradually decreased with time increasing. Differences in surfactant structure and protein type had an important effect on the number and area of foam.

Structural changes in trypsin induced by the bile salts: An effect of amphiphile hydrophobicity

The present study reports the multi-technique results of the interaction of a series of bile salts, sodium cholate (NaC), sodium taurocholate (NaTC), sodium deoxycholate (NaDC), and sodium taurodeoxycholate (NaTDC) with trypsin under the experimental conditions of 25 °C and pH 7.0. The interactions between trypsin and the bile salts were characterized by the surface tension measurements and various spectroscopic techniques like UV-Visible absorption, steady-state fluorescence, and circular dichroism. The results of surface tension measurements reveal a strong interaction of trypsin (50 μM) with the increasing concentration of bile salts, being higher with the bile salt of greater hydrophobicity. The critical aggregation concentration of bile salts in the presence of trypsin (C₁) showed that the bile salts interact strongly with the trypsin in the order of NaTDC > NaDC > NaTC > NaC. UV-visible, steady-state fluorescence, and circular dichroism spectroscopic results confirmed significant unfolding of trypsin due to its interaction with the bile salts, the extent of which followed the same sequence as observed in the surface tension results. It could be concluded that the hydrophobic bile salts that show lower C₁ values and have less delocalized charge, are more effective in unfolding the trypsin. The study would help understand the hydrophobicity-driven unfolding of proteins aided by biological surfactants like bile salts and help devise efficient proteolytic enzyme-based detergent formulations and understand the role of such amphiphiles as antimicrobial agents.

The interaction of sodium dodecyl sulfate with trypsin: Multi-spectroscopic analysis, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation

The bioactivity of enzymes is sensitive to certain factors in their application environment, such as the pH, temperature, ionic strength, and additives, which can alter the native conformation of enzymes. To determine the mechanism by which the interaction of SDS influences the structure and activity of trypsin, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, DSC, and multi-spectroscopic measures including UV absorption, fluorescence, and circular dichroism were used. The results show that the hydrolytic activity towards casein could be dramatically restrained by SDS. UV absorption, CD, and fluorescence spectra demonstrated the formation of a trypsin-SDS complex. Thermodynamic parameters and molecular docking data revealed that the binding process was spontaneous, and that the main binding forces between SDS and trypsin were hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces. In addition, molecular docking predicted that the binding site of SDS on trypsin was located at the active center. Molecular dynamic simulations showed that treatment with SDS resulted in the structure of trypsin becoming unstable and unfolded near its active center. This work provides insights into the interaction of SDS with trypsin on the molecular level and is beneficial to understanding of how SDS affects the conformation and activity of trypsin in application processes.

Influence of micelles on protein's denaturation

To evaluate the role of micelles for protein-surfactant interaction, we have studied the binding modes of serum albumin proteins (human (HSA) and rabbit (RSA)) with anionic-surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) by using UV-visible, fluorescence, circular dichroism, fluorescence lifetime, atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. The study performed with three different pHs (below (4.0), at (4.7), and above (7.0) isoelectric point). Hydrocarbon chain of the surfactant, dominant role of hydrophobic forces and electrostatic interactions helped in polar interaction on protein on binding surfaces. The change above and below the critical micelle concentration (CMC) in fluorescence spectra was due to polarity of the microenvironment. The CD spectra different binding aspects as below CMC and above CMC, explain about folding and unfolding in secondary structure. Surfactant's binding induces fluctuations in the microenvironment of aromatic amino acid's residues of both proteins at different pHs. AFM images clarify the structural changes in both proteins (HSA & RSA). AFM images also indicate some different interesting conformational and structural changes in both proteins below/above the CMC of the surfactant. The molecular docking studies indicate the binding energy -4.8 kcal mol^-1 and -4.7 kcal mol^-1 for HSA-SDS and RSA-SDS, respectively. Structural changes can be seen above and below the CMC.

Comparative refolding of guanidinium hydrochloride denatured bovine serum albumin assisted by cationic and anionic surfactants via artificial chaperone protocol: Biophysical insight

In the present study, we report the cooperative refolding/renaturation behaviour of guanidinium hydrochloride (GdnHCl) denatured bovine serum albumin (BSA) in the presence of cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and their catanionic mixture in the solution of 60 mM sodium phosphate buffer of physiological pH 7.4, using artificial chaperone-assisted two-step method. Here, we have employed biophysical techniques to characterize the refolding mechanism of denatured BSA after 200 times of dilution in the presence of cationic, anionic surfactants and their catanionic mixture, separately. We have found that minimum refolding of diluted BSA in the presence of 1:1 rational mixture of CTAB and SDS (CTAB/SDS = 50/50), it may be due to the micelles formation which is responsible for the unordered microstructure aggregate formation. Other mixtures (CTAB/SDS = 20/80 and 80/20) slightly played an effective role during refolding process in the presence of methyl-β-cyclodextrin. On other hand, CTAB and SDS are more effective and reflect a good renaturation tendency of denatured BSA solution separately and in existence of methyl-β-cyclodextrin as compare to their mixture compositions. But overall, CTAB has the better renaturation tendency as compare to SDS in the existence of methyl-β-cyclodextrin. These results ascribed the presence of charge head group and length of hydrophobic tail of CTAB surfactant that plays an important task during electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions at pH 7.4 at which BSA carries negative charge on their surface. These biophysical parameters suggest that, CTAB surfactant assisted artificial chaperone protocol may be utilized in the protein renaturation/refolding studies, which may address the associated problems of biotechnological industries for the development of efficient and inexpensive folding aides, which may also be used to produced genetically engineered cells related diseases, resulting from protein misfolding/aggregation.

Silk Fibroin-Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Gelation: Molecular, Structural, and Rheological Insights

A gelling agent is necessary to accelerate sol to gel transition in an aqueous solution of silk fibroin (SF), which otherwise takes several days to complete. In this paper, we investigate the mechanism of gelation of Bombyx mori SF by a model anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Even though interactions between SDS and proteins have been extensively investigated, most of these studies have focused on globular proteins, which undergo denaturation. The interaction with a fibrous protein such as SF is different and results in an altered secondary structure leading to gelation. In this work, the concentration-dependent gelation process of the SF-SDS system is examined using rheology, SANS, FTIR, and NMR. We observed preferential binding of SDS to specific regions on the SF chain, which aids structural changes favoring β-sheet formation. We propose a mechanism for the accelerated sol-gel transition in the SF-SDS system.

Interaction behaviors and structural characteristics of zein/NaTC nanoparticles

Bile salts are biosurfactants distributed in the human gastrointestinal tract, which can significantly influence the structure and functions of orally administrated components.

Chemically Induced Morphogenesis of P22 Virus-like Particles by the Surfactant Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

In the infectious P22 bacteriophage, the packaging of DNA into the initially formed procapsid triggers a remarkable morphological transformation where the capsid expands from 58 to 62 nm. Along with the increase in size, this maturation also provides greater stability to the capsid and initiates the release of the scaffolding protein (SP). (2,4) In the P22 virus-like particle (VLP), this transformation can be mimicked in vitro by heating the procapsid particles to 65 °C or by treatment with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). (5,6) Heating the P22 particles at 65 °C for 20 min is well established to trigger the transformation of P22 to the expanded (EX) P22 VLP but does not always result in a fully expanded population. Incubation with SDS resulted in a >80% expanded population for all P22 variants used in this work. This study elucidates the importance of the stoichiometric ratio between P22 subunits and SDS, the charge of the headgroup, and length of the carbon chain for the transformation. We propose a mechanism by which the expansion takes place, where both the negatively charged sulfate group and hydrophobic tail interact with the coat protein (CP) monomers within the capsid shell in a process that is facilitated by an internal osmotic pressure generated by an encapsulated macromolecular cargo.

A study on the interaction of horse heart cytochrome c with some conventional and ionic liquid surfactants probed by ultraviolet-visible and fluorescence spectroscopic techniques

The interactions of a protein cytochrome c with some selected conventional and ionic liquid surfactants have been investigated at pH7.4 using ultraviolet-visible and fluorescence spectroscopic techniques. We used four conventional surfactants - cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), sodium N-dodecanoylsarcosinate (SDDS), and N-decanoyl-N-methylglucamine (Mega 10), and a surface active ionic liquid 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (C₁₆MeImCl). All the investigated surfactants were found to induce an unfolding of the protein cytochrome c. In presence of CTAB, SDDS and C₁₆MeImCl, the heme iron atom was found to loose methionine from its axial position. Differential binding of the surfactant monomers and their micelles to the protein molecules was inferred. The ionic surfactants were found to be more effective than the nonionic one in unfolding the investigated protein. However, the extent of binding of CTAB/C₁₆MeImCl to cytochrome c reaches a plateau past the critical micellization concentration (cmc) of the surfactant. For each of the cytochrome c-DTAB, cytochrome c-SDDS and cytochrome c-Mega 10 system, although there exists an inflection in the surfactant-binding, saturation point could not be detected. It has been demonstrated from the ultraviolet-visible spectral studies that the oxidation state of iron in cytochrome c does not change when the protein binds with the investigated surfactants.

Interactions between surfactants and hydrolytic enzymes

Hydrolytic enzymes are combined with surfactants in many types of formulations, for instance detergents and personal care products. If the surfactant interacts with the enzyme there may be conformational changes that eventually lead to loss of the enzymatic activity. From a practical point of view it is important to understand the nature and magnitude of these interactions. After an introduction of the topic the review briefly discusses enzyme catalyzed reactions where surfactants are substrates for the enzyme. The rest of the review relates to associations between surfactants and hydrolytic enzymes without the surfactant being a substrate in the reaction. A discussion about general principles for such interactions is followed by a survey of the relevant literature related to four important types of hydrolytic enzymes: lipases, proteases, amylases and cellulases. It is shown in the review that the effect exerted by the surfactant differs between the different types of enzymes; it is therefore difficult to make general statements about which surfactants are most detrimental to the activity of hydrolytic enzymes. However, as a general rule nonionic surfactants can be regarded as more benign to an enzyme than anionic and cationic surfactants. This difference can be ascribed to the difference in binding mode. Whereas a nonionic surfactant only binds to the enzyme through hydrophobic interactions, an ionic surfactant can bind by a combination of electrostatic attraction and hydrophobic interaction. This latter type of binding can be strong and lead to conformational changes already at very low surfactant concentration, often far below its critical micelle concentration.

Binding characteristics of psoralen with trypsin: Insights from spectroscopic and molecular modeling studies

Psoralen (PSO) is a naturally occurring furanocoumarin with a variety of pharmacological activities, however very limited information on the interaction of PSO with trypsin is available. In this study, the binding characteristics between PSO and trypsin at physiological pH were investigated using a combination of fluorescence, UV-vis absorption, circular dichroism (CD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic, chemometric and molecular modeling approaches. It was found that the fluorescence quenching of trypsin by PSO was a static quenching procedure, ascribing the formation of a PSO-trypsin complex. The binding of PSO to trypsin was driven mainly by hydrophobic forces as the positive enthalpy change and entropy change values. The molecular docking showed that PSO inserted into the active site pocket of trypsin to interact with the catalytic residues His57, Asp102 and Ser195 and may cause a decrease in trypsin activity. The results of CD and FT-IR spectra along with the temperature-induced denaturation studies indicated that the addition of PSO to trypsin led to the changes in the secondary structure of the enzyme. The concentration profiles and spectra of the three components (PSO, trypsin, and PSO-trypsin complex) obtained by multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares analysis exhibited the kinetic processes of PSO-trypsin interaction. This study will be helpful to understand the mechanism of PSO that affects the conformation and activity of trypsin in biological processes.

Exploring the affinity binding of alkylmaltoside surfactants to bovine serum albumin and their effect on the protein stability: A spectroscopic approach

Steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence together with circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopic studies was performed to examine the interactions between bovine serum albumin (BSA) and two alkylmaltoside surfactants, i.e. n-decyl-β-D-maltoside (β-C10G2) and n-dodecyl-β-D-maltoside (β-C12G2), having identical structures but different tail lengths. Changes in the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA from static as well as dynamic measurements revealed a weak protein-surfactant interaction and gave the corresponding binding curves, suggesting that the binding mechanism of surfactants to protein is essentially cooperative in nature. The behavior of both surfactants is similar, so that the differences detected were attributed to the more hydrophobic nature of β-C12G2, which favors the adsorption of micelle-like aggregates onto the protein surface. These observations were substantially demonstrated by data derived from synchronous, three-dimensional and anisotropy fluorescence experiments. Changes in the secondary structure of the protein induced by the interaction with surfactants were analyzed by CD to determine the contents of α-helix and β-strand. It was noted that whereas the addition of β-C10G2 appears to stabilize the secondary structure of the protein, β-C12G2 causes a marginal denaturation of BSA for a protein:surfactant molar ratio as high as 1 to 100.