Chloroform-induced conformational changes in the bound pigmentin bilirubin-albumin complexes.

Chloroform-induced conformational changes of bilirubin (BR) bound to different serum albumins were studied by circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence spectroscopy. Addition of a small amount of chloroform ( approximately 20 mM) to a solution containing 20 microM albumin and 15 microM BR changed the sign order and magnitude of the characteristic CD spectra of all BR-albumin complexes except BR-PSA complex which showed abnormal behavior. Monosignate negative CD Cotton effects (CDCEs) of BR complexed with SSA, GSA and BuSA were transformed into bisignate CDCEs in presence of chloroform akin to those exhibited by chloroform free solution of BR-HSA complex, indicating that the pigment acquired right handed plus (P) chirality when chloroform was added to these complexes. Bisignate CD spectra of BR complexed with HSA and BSA showed complete inversion upon addition of chloroform corroborating earlier findings. On the other hand, changes observed with BR-RSA complex were slightly different showing an additional CD band of weak intensity centered around 390 nm though inversion of CDCEs was similar to that of BR-HSA complex. Monosignate CD spectra of BR-PSA complex also showed three CD bands occurring at 409, 470 and 514 nm after chloroform addition. These results indicated significant but different effects of chloroform on the conformation of bound BR in BR-albumin complexes which can be ascribed to the changes in the exciton chirality of bilirubin probably due to altered hydrophobic microenvironment induced by the binding of chloroform at or near the ligand binding site. Chloroform severely quenched the intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence of the protein and shifted the emission maxima towards blue region in all the albumins except PSA. However, quantitative differences in both quenching and blue shift were noted in different serum albumins. This suggests that chloroform probably binds in the close vicinity of tryptophan residue(s) located in subdomain(s) IIA or IB and II both. The fluorescence of BR-albumin complexes was also found to be sensitive to the presence of a small amount of chloroform. But the changes observed in the fluorescence of the bound pigment in presence of chloroform were less marked as compared to the changes in the intrinsic fluorescence of protein per se. Taken together, these results suggest that there is at least one conserved site for chloroform binding in all these albumins which is at or near the BR binding site.