Interaction of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with novel gemini surfactants studied by synchrotron radiation scattering (SR-SAXS), circular dichroism (CD), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

The interaction of three dicationic (gemini) surfactants-3,3'-[1,6-(2,5-dioxahexane)]bis(1-dodecylimidazolium) chloride (oxyC2), 3,3'-[1,16-(2,15-dioxahexadecane)]bis(1-dodecylimidazolium) chloride (oxyC12), and 1,4-bis(butane)imidazole-1-yl-3-dodecylimidazolium chloride (C4)--with bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been studied by the use of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), circular dichroism (CD), and (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance diffusometry. The results of CD studies show that the conformation of BSA was changed dramatically in the presence of all studied surfactants. The greater decrease (from 56 to 24%) in the α-helical structure of BSA was observed for oxyC2 surfactant. The radii of gyration estimated from SAXS data varied between 3 and 26 nm for the BSA/oxyC2 and BSA/oxyC12 systems. The hydrodynamic radius of the BSA/surfactant system estimated from NMR diffusometry varies between 5 and 11 nm for BSA/oxyC2 and 5 and 8 nm for BSA/oxyC12.