Understanding bilirubin conformation and binding. Circular dichroism of human serum albumin complexes with bilirubin and its esters.

Human serum albumin binds tightly and noncovalently to a wide variety of hydrophobic bilirubins, including (4Z,15Z)-bilirubin-IX alpha, its dimethyl ester and mono methyl esters, its mono 2-butyl esters and amides, the dimethyl ester of (4Z,15Z)-mesobilirubin-IV alpha, and even (4Z,15Z)-etiobilirubin-IV gamma. The heteroassociation complexes formed from these highly water-insoluble pigments and the protein can be prepared in pH 7.4 aqueous by using a small quantity of dimethyl sulfoxide as amphiphilic carrier. In those solutions the protein acts as a water-soluble chiral complexation agent to induce an asymmetric transformation of the bound pigment. This is recognized by positive chirality, bisignate induced circular dichroism (CD) Cotton effects that fall in the region of the bichromophoric pigment's long wavelength UV-visible absorption band and are characteristic of intramolecular exciton coupling of the bilirubin component pyrromethenone chromophores. The same-signed CD spectra shared by all the pigments of this work indicate selection at the protein binding site for a positive chirality conformer and suggest a common binding site. The CD intensities, which are greatest ([delta epsilon[ congruent to 50) for pigments with one or two free carboxyl groups, are consistent with a binding model where one salt linkage plays a major role in the enantioselectivity of the right-handed folded conformation stabilized by inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonds.