Adsorption of an amphiphilic penicillin onto human serum albumin: characterisation of the complex Original Research Article

The complex formed by the interaction of the amphiphilic penicillin drug nafcillin and human serum albumin (HSA) in water at 25°C has been characterised using a range of physicochemical techniques. Measurements of the solution conductivity and the electrophoretic mobility of the complexes have shown an ionic adsorption of the drug on the protein surface leading to a surface saturation at a nafcillin concentration of 0.012 mmol kg−1 and subsequent formation of drug micelles in solutions of higher nafcillin concentration. Measurements of the size of the complex and the thickness of the adsorbed layer by static and dynamic light scattering have shown a gradual change in hydrodynamic radius of the complex with increasing drug concentration typical of a saturation rather than a denaturation process, the magnitude of the change being insufficient to account for any appreciable extension or unfolding of the HSA molecule. The interaction potential between the HSA/nafcillin complexes, and the stability of the complexes were determined from the dependence of diffusion coefficients on protein concentration by application of the DLVO colloidal stability theory. The results indicate decreasing stability of the colloidal dispersion of the drug/protein complexes with an increase in the concentration of added drug.