Probing the cysteine 34 residue in human serum albumin using fluorescence techniques

The microenvironment surrounding Cys-34 in human serum albumin (HSA) has been studied using acrylodan, a cysteine-specific fluorescence probe. Fluorescence emission maximum (Em(max)) of acrylodan covalently attached to Cys-34 was observed at 476 nm, which was nearly the same as for acetonitrile. The Em(max) exhibited a shift toward longer wavelength with oleate binding. The acrylodan fluorescence of HSA exhibited heterogeneous decay kinetics, which adequately fit a double-exponential decay model. When three or more oleate molecules were bound to one albumin molecule, the fractional intensity was shifted in favor of the shorter lived component. These results suggest that oleate binding induces a conformational or dynamic change which is localized in the Cys-34 region. Unfolding studies with guanidine-HCl indicate that Cys-34 appears to be located on the surface of HSA molecule and that it is protected by adjacent amino acid residues. Solvent accessibility of acrylodan with HSA in the absence and presence of oleate was determined from acrylamide quenching, and suggests that oleate binding enhances the solvent exposure of the acrylodan fluorophore. In order to determine the nature of the electrostatic potential near Cys-34, the quenching rate constants for anionic (iodide) and cationic (thallium) quenchers were determined as a function of ionic strength of solvent. The ionic strength dependence of quenching indicated that there was an electrostatic attractive force between the fluorophore and both ionic quenchers. These results are consistent with a model in which amphoteric charges which arise from charged amino acid residues were surrounding Cys-34. Interestingly, oleate binding resulted in changes in the spatial relationships between acrylodan and these charged residues. Thus, the experiments described herein provide the information concerning an oleate-induced alteration in the nature of the local environment surrounding Cys-34 and suggests that long chain fatty acid binding provides a method for regulating the radical-trapping antioxidant activity of Cys-34 in HSA in vivo.