Thermodynamic characterization of drug binding to human serum albumin by isothermal titration microcalorimetry.

Binding sites on human serum albumin (HSA) for anionic drugs and fatty acids have been thermodynamically characterized by microcalorimetry. The binding and the thermodynamic parameters were directly computed from the calorimetric titration data at 37 degrees C in a phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) using one- and two-class binding models. From compensation analyses plotting the molar enthalpy change (delta Hm,i) versus those of the molar free energy (delta Gm,i) and molar entropy (delta Sm,i) for each class of binding sites, HSA binding sites were classified into groups S1, S2, and S3. Group S1 included high-affinity binding sites for site II-bound drugs, such as ibuprofen, flufenamic acid, and ethacrynic acid, and short- or medium-length alkyl-chain fatty acids; group S2 included low-affinity binding sites of site II-bound drugs and long-length alkyl-chain fatty acids; and group S3 contained the high-affinity binding sites for site I-bound drugs, such as phenylbutazone, oxphenbutazone, and warfarin, and long-length alkyl-chain fatty acids. High- and low-affinity bindings sites for salicylic acid and acetylaslicylic acid agreed with the regions of groups S3 and S2, respectively. Groups S1 and S2 were characterized by large negative values of delta Hm,i and delta Sm,i, reflecting van der Waals interaction and hydrogen-bonding formation in low dielectric media, and the main force to stabilize the binding complex in group S3 was a hydrophobic interaction, characterized by a small negative delta Hm,i and minor or positive values of delta Sm,i (entropy-driven).