Exploring of protein - protein interactions at the solid - aqueous interface by means of contact angle measurements

In this article we present the results of the studies on interactions between the VC1 domain of the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (RAGE) and its ligand, the S100B protein, performed by contact angle measurements. Histidine-tagged (His6) VC1-RAGE domain was covalently bonded to Cu(II) or Ni(II) complexes with dipyrromethene (DPM) self-assembled on gold surface. The method based on the theory of van Oss was used for the purpose of determining the Lifshitz-van der Waals (γ(LW)) component as well as the electron acceptor-electron donor (the Lewis acid-base, γ(+)-γ(-)) parameters of the VC1-RAGE-S100B complex. Moreover, the surface free energies of the interactions between the VC1 domain attached to the surface and the ligand present in the aqueous phase were determined. The specificity of the VC1- RAGE interactions with the ligand studied was also proved.