Adsorption of bovine serum albumin at solid/aqueous interfaces

Adsorption of soluble serum proteins on hydrophilic and hydrophobic solid surfaces is important for biomaterials and chromatographic separations of proteins. The adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) from aqueous solutions was studied with in situ ATR-IR spectroscopy, and with ex situ ATR-IR, ellipsometry, and water wettablity measurements. The results were used to quantitatively determine the adsorbed film thickness and surface density of BSA on hydrophilic silicon oxide/silicon surfaces, and on these surfaces covered with a hydrophobic lipid monolayer of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC). The water contact angles were ∼5° for silicon oxide, 47° ± 1° for the DDPC monolayer, and 53° ± 1° for the BSA monolayers. At 25 °C, and with 0.01–1 wt% BSA in water, the surface densities range from Γ = 2.6–5.0 mg/m2, and the film thicknesses range from d = 2.0–3.8 nm, on the assumption that the film is as dense as bulk protein. These results, and certain changes in the IR amide I and II bands of the protein, indicate that the protein adsorbs as a side-on monolayer, with some flattening due to unfolding or denaturation. The estimated α-helical content for protein in buffer solutions is 15% higher than for solutions in water. The adsorption density reaches a steady-state value within 10 min for the lowest concentration, but does not appear to reach a steady-state value after 3 h f'or the higher concentrations. Adsorption of BSA on a silicon oxide surface covered with a monolayer of DPPC leads to an adsorbed protein film of about half the thickness and surface density than on silicon oxide, but the same contact angle, indicating more protein unfolding on the hydrophobic than on the hydrophilic surface.