Abstract
Concern about the toxicity of engineered nanoparticles, such as the prototypical nanomaterial C60 fullerene, continues to grow. While evidence continues to mount that C60 and its derivatives may pose health hazards, the specific molecular interactions of these particles with biological macromolecules require further investigation. To better understand the interaction of C60 with proteins, the protein human serum albumin (HSA) was studied in solution with C60 at C60:HSA molar ratios ranging from 1:2 to 4:1. HSA is the major protein component of blood plasma and plays a role in a variety of functions, such as the maintenance of blood pH and pressure. The C60-HSA interaction was probed by a combination of circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to understand C60-driven changes in the structure of HSA in solution. The CD spectroscopy demonstrates that the secondary structure of the protein decreases in α-helical content in response to the presence of C60. Similarly, C60 produces subtle changes in the solution conformation of HSA, as evidenced by the SANS data and MD. The data do not indicate that C60 is causing a change in the oligomerization state of the protein. Taken together results demonstrate that C60 interacts with HSA, but it does not strongly perturb the structure of the protein by unfolding it or inducing aggregation, suggesting a mechanism for transporting C60 throughout the body to accumulate in various tissues.
