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Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) possessed much potential hazard to environment because of its chemical stability and biological toxicity. Here, we identified the binding mode of a representative compound, PCB153, to human serum albumin (HSA) using fluorescence and molecular dynamics simulation methods. The fluorescence study showed that the intrinsic fluorescence of HSA was quenched by addition of PCB153 through a static quenching mechanism. The thermodynamic analysis proved the binding behavior was mainly governed by hydrophobic force. Furthermore, as evidenced by site marker displacement experiments using two probe compounds, it revealed that PCB153 acted exactly on subdomain IIIA (site II) of HSA. On the other hand, the molecular dynamics studies as well as free energy calculations made another important contribution to understand the conformational changes of HSA and the stability of HSA-PCB153 system. Molecular docking revealed PCB153 can bind in a large hydrophobic activity of subdomain IIIA by the hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bond interactions between chlorine atoms and residue ASN391. The present work provided reasonable models helping us further understand the transporting, distribution and toxicity effect of PCBs when it spread into human blood serum., (Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Alkylphenols, considered to be endocrine disruptor chemicals and toxic environmental priority pollutants, pose great threats to humans with wide exposure from food and other potential sources. In this paper, to evaluate the toxicity of the alkylphenols at the protein level, the effects of 4-tert-octylphenol (OP) and 4-nonylphenol (NP) on human serum albumin (HSA) were characterized by molecular modeling, steady state and time-resolved fluorescence, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) and circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD). The enthalpy change (ΔH) and entropy change (ΔS) indicated that hydrophobic forces and hydrogen bonds were the dominant intermolecular forces in the binding of the alkylphenols to HSA. The binding constant of HSA-NP is much greater than that of HSA-OP, revealing that NP, which has a longer carbon chain, has a higher affinity than OP. The alterations of protein secondary structure in the presence of the alkylphenols were confirmed by UV-vis and CD spectroscopy. The time-resolved fluorescence study showed that the lifetimes of tryptophan (Trp) residue of HSA decreased after the addition of the alkylphenols, NP with longer carbon chain impact on the average lifetime of the Trp of HSA more than OP, which consistent with the conclusion drawn from the fluorescence date., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Phthalate esters (PAEs) are globally pervasive contaminants that are considered to be endocrine disruptor chemicals and toxic environmental priority pollutants. In this paper, the interactions between PAEs and human serum albumin (HSA) were examined by molecular modelling, steady state and time-resolved fluorescence, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) and circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD). The association constants between PAEs and HSA were determined using the Stern-Volmer and Scatchard equations. The binding of dimethyl phthalate (DMP) to HSA has a single class of binding site and its binding constants (K) are 4.08 × 10(3), 3.97 × 10(3), 3.45 × 10(3), and 3.20 × 10(3)L mol(-1) at 289, 296, 303, and 310K, respectively. The Stern-Volmer and Scatchard plots both had two regression curves for HSA-butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP) and HSA-di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), which indicated that these bindings were via two types of binding sites: the numbers of binding site for the first type were lower than for the second type. The binding constants of the first type binding site were higher than those of the second type binding site at corresponding temperatures, the results suggesting that the first type of binding site had high affinity and the second binding site involved other sites with lower binding affinity and selectivity. The thermodynamic parameters of the binding reactions (ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS°) were measured, and they indicated the presences of hydrophobic forces and hydrogen interactions in the PAEs-HSA interactions, which agreed well with the results from molecular modelling. The alterations of protein secondary structure in the presence of PAEs were confirmed by UV-vis and CD spectroscopy. The time-resolved fluorescence study showed that the lifetime of Trp residue of HSA decreased after the addition of PAEs, which implied that the Trp residue of HSA was the main binding site., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this study, the interaction of the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA) and human serum albumin (HSA) was investigated by molecular modelling, fluorescence, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD). The association constants between BPA and HSA were determined using the Scatchard equation. The thermodynamic parameters of the binding reaction (DeltaG0, DeltaH0 and DeltaS0) were measured, and they indicated the presence of hydrophobic forces in the BPA-HSA interaction, which agreed well with the results from molecular modelling. The alterations of protein secondary structure in the presence of BPA were confirmed by UV-vis, FT-IR and CD spectroscopy. Lastly, the average binding distance, r, between BPA and HSA was evaluated and found to be 1.82 nm according to Förster's theory of non-radiation energy transfer., (Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The aim of this study is to explore the association of podocyte injury with clinical features and outcomes in mesangial proliferative (Class II) lupus nephritis (LN). Methods: We conducted a retrospective and clinicopathologic analysis with 576 LN patients with renal biopsy and screened 58 patients with Class II LN. Then, the 58 cases were divided into 4 groups based on the degree of podocyte damage and immune complex (IC) deposits on light microscope (histological and immunofluorescence) and electron microscope: Podocyte Injury Group, IC deposits Group, Podocyte Injury and IC Group, and Less-lesion Group. Clinical and pathologic information was collected from the patients' medical records at the time of the kidney biopsy and at follow-up. The data of demography, clinical parameters, therapy, remission, and relapse rates were analyzed and compared across groups. Results: A significant difference was observed in the ages of patients among four Class II LN groups. The onset age of patients with FPE ≥ 50% was significant later. The frequency of thrombocytopenia was statistically different among the four groups and the patients with FPE ≥ 50% had lower frequency of thrombocytopenia. Patients with FPE ≥ 50% had lower serum albumin, eGFR, and elevated proteinuria and serum lipids. In this study, most patients received glucocorticoids in combination with immunosuppressants. Among the 4 groups, the use of ACEI/ARBs was highest in the podocyte injury group. There was a statistical difference in the renal relapse rates among the 4 Class II LN groups. Moreover, the recurrence rate was higher in the FPE ≥ 50% group. Conclusion: Our data identified Class II LN patients with podocyte injury (FPE ≥ 50%) present prominent renal damage and higher rate of renal relapse, suggesting more aggressive treatment and close follow-up for these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In the present study, the interaction of vanillin and human serum albumin (HSA) has been characterised by molecular modelling, fluorescence, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopic methods. The results of molecular modelling suggested that vanillin was located within the binding pocket of subdomain IIA of HSA mainly by hydrophobic forces. The quenching of HSA fluorescence takes place with a binding constant (K) of 8.8, 7.7, 5.7, 4.2×104 M−1 at four different temperatures (288, 298, 308, 318K), respectively. Meanwhile, the number of binding site (n ≈1) was also obtained from fluorescence titration data. The enthalpy change ΔH 0 and the entropy change ΔS 0 were calculated to be −20kJmol−1 and 5.8Jmol−1 K−1 according to the Van’t Hoff equation. Furthermore, the alterations of protein secondary structure in the presence of vanillin were explored by FT-IR and CD spectra. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this study, the interaction between C.I. Acid Orange 7 (AO7) and human serum albumin (HSA) was firstly investigated using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in combination with fluorescence quenching spectroscopy, three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy, UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy and molecular modeling method in vitro. The results of NMR data confirmed that AO7 indeed interacted with HSA, and the hydrophobic portion of AO7 should be embedded to the hydrophobic pocket of HSA. The fluorescence quenching analysis revealed that AO7 can bind to HSA. The conformational change of HSA in the presence of AO7 was confirmed by synchronous fluorescence, three-dimensional fluorescence, UV–vis absorption, FT-IR and CD spectra. The binding distance between AO7 and tryptophan residue of HSA was calculated by the efficiency of fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Molecular modeling showed that hydrophobic force and hydrogen bonds were the major interaction between AO7 and HSA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]