Quercetin Influence on Thermal Denaturation of Bovine Serum Albumin

The effect of quercetin (QUER) binding on bovine serum albumin (BSA) thermal denaturation was systematically investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Additional information concerning thermodynamic and structural binding parameters was provided by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and molecular docking. The most relevant effect of QUER is manifested in the modification of the two-step thermal fingerprint of protein denaturation. Higher QUER concentrations result in a single-step denaturation thermogram, ascribed to the interplay between specific and nonspecific binding and enhancement of the solvent unfolding action. Analysis of ITC data indicate sequential binding of two molecules of QUER occurring spontaneously at different binding sites of BSA involving hydrophobic, electrostatic and hydrogen binding forces. Identification of QUER binding sites was possible through corroboration of DSC runs in the presence of site markers and molecular docking. Modeling of ligand-protein interaction confirmed the experimental data. On one hand, a neutral form of QUER binds in a nonplanar conformation to Sudlow's site I, a large hydrophobic cavity of subdomain IIA of BSA and decreases its thermal stability. On the other hand, a second molecule of QUER, the anionic form, is bound in planar conformation to Sudlow's site II, situated in the subdomain IIIA of the folded protein, and increases the thermal stability of the corresponding structural domain of the protein.