Hydrophobicity is the governing factor in the interaction of human serum albumin with bile salts.

The present study demonstrates a detailed characterization of the interaction of a series of bile salts, sodium deoxycholate (NaDC), sodium cholate (NaC), and sodium taurocholate (NaTC), with a model transport protein, human serum albumin (HSA). Here, steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopic techniques have been used to characterize the interaction of the bile salts with HSA. The binding isotherms constructed from steady-state fluorescence intensity measurements demonstrate that the interaction of the bile salts with HSA can be characterized by three distinct regions, which were also successfully reproduced from the significant variation of the emission wavelength (λ(em)) of the intrinsic tryptophan (Trp) moiety of HSA. The time-resolved fluorescence decay behavior of the Trp residue of HSA was also found to corroborate the steady-state results. The effect of interaction with the bile salts on the native conformation of the protein has been explored in a circular dichroism (CD) study, which reveals a decrease in α-helicity of HSA induced by the bile salts. In accordance with this, the esterase activity of the protein-bile salt aggregates is found to be reduced in comparison to that of the native protein. Our results exclusively highlight the fact that it is the hydrophobic character of the bile salt that governs the extent of interaction with the protein. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and molecular docking studies further substantiate our other experimental findings.