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Fluorescence study on site-specific binding of perfluoroalkyl acids to human serum albumin

  • Toxicokinetics and Metabolism
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Abstract

Binding of five perfluoroalkyl acids with human serum albumin (HSA) was investigated by site-specific fluorescence. Intrinsic fluorescence of tryptophan-214 in HSA was monitored upon addition of the chemicals. Although perfluorobutyl acid (PFBA) and perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) did not cause fluorescence change, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoA) induced fluorescence quenching, from which binding constant of 2.7 × 105 M−1 for PFOA and 2.2 × 104 M−1 for PFOS was calculated. Two fluorescent probes, dansylamide (DA) and dansyl-l-proline (DP), were employed in fluorescence displacement measurements to study the interaction at two Sudlow’s binding sites. At Site I, both PFBA and PFBS displaced DA with binding constants of 1.0 × 106 M−1 and 2.2 × 106 M−1. At Site II, PFBS and PFDoA displaced DP with binding constants of 6.5 × 106 M−1 and 1.2 × 106 M−1, whereas PFBA did not bind. The data were compared with fatty acids to evaluate the potential toxicological effect of these environmental chemicals.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX2-YW-420-1) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (20621703).

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 2871, 18 Shuangqing Road, 100085, Beijing, China

    Yan-Min Chen & Liang-Hong Guo

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  1. Yan-Min Chen
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  2. Liang-Hong Guo
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Correspondence to Liang-Hong Guo.

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Chen, YM., Guo, LH. Fluorescence study on site-specific binding of perfluoroalkyl acids to human serum albumin. Arch Toxicol 83, 255–261 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-008-0359-x

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