DENATURATION OF HUMAN SERUM ALBUMIN BY CERIUM (III) CHLORIDE

Cerium (III) Chloride-induced conformational changes of human serum albumin, HSA, in phosphate buffer, 10 mM at pH 7.4 was investigated, using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), UV and fluorescence emission spectroscopic methods. The results indicate that CeCl3, Ce3+, induces irreversible denaturation of the HSA structure. The UV absorption intensity of HSA + Ce3+ shows a slight blueshift in the absorbance wavelength with increasing Ce3+ concentration. The fluorescence intensity was increased regularly and a slight redshift was observed in the emission wavelength. The HSA + Ce3+ complex quenches the fluorescence of HSA and changes the microenvironment of tryptophan residue. The emission intensity increases suggesting the loss of the tertiary structure of HSA. The results obtained from the ITC data are in agreement with the spectroscopic methods. The strong negative cooperativity of Ce3+ binding with HSA (Table 1) recovered from the extended solvation model, indicates that HSA has been denatured as a result of its interaction with Ce3+ ions.