Conformational Changes of Bovine Serum Albumin Induced by Adsorption on Different Clay Surfaces: FTIR Analysis

Interactions between proteins and clays perturb biological activity in ecosystems, particularly soil extracellular enzyme activity. The pH dependence of hydrophobic, hydrophilic, and electrostatic interactions on the adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) is studied. BSA secondary structures and hydration are revealed from computation of the Amide I and II FTIR absorption profiles. The influence of ionization of Asp, Glu, and His side chains on the adsorption processes is deduced from correlation between p(2)H dependent carboxylic/carboxylate ratio and Amide band profiles. We quantify p(2)H dependent internal and external structural unfolding for BSA adsorbed on montmorillonite, which is an electronegative phyllosilicate. Adsorption on talc, a hydrophobic surface, is less denaturing. The results emphasize the importance of electrostatic interactions in both adsorption processes. In the first case, charged side chains directly influence BSA adsorption that generate the structural transition. In the second case, the forces that attract hydrophobic side chains toward the protein-clay interface are large enough to distort peripheral amphiphilic helical domains. The resulting local unfolding displaces enough internal ionized side chains to prevent them from establishing salt bridges as for BSA native structure in solution. On montmorillonite, a particular feature is a higher protonation of the Asp and Glu side chains of the adsorbed BSA than in solution, which decreases coulombic repulsion. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.