Interaction of beta-lactoglobulin with small hydrophobic ligands as monitored by fluorometry and equilibrium dialysis: nonlinear quenching effects related to protein--protein association.

Although a thorough characterization of binding parameters is essential for application of beta-lactoglobulin as a carrier for a variety of small hydrophobic ligands, the binding parameters derived in various studies using various techniques are inconsistent. The bindings of several small ligands as detected by fluorometry and equilibrium dialysis were compared. Fluorescence spectroscopy showed that beta-ionone, retinol, and fatty acid lactones all bound in the vicinity of a tryptophan residue. Retinol and fatty acid lactone competed for the same binding site. Exclusively for ligands that quench the beta-lactoglobulin fluorescence through a resonance energy transfer mechanism, fluorometry yielded a systematically higher binding affinity than equilibrium dialysis. The binding overestimation in fluorometric measurements can be explained by oligomer formation of protein, together with an underestimation of the limiting quenching level at saturating ligand concentrations due to the use of a limited set of data points.