Impact of Short- and Long-range Forces on Protein Conformation and Adsorption Kinetics

TL;DR

This study investigates how short- and long-range forces influence protein adsorption and conformation at interfaces, revealing that substrate properties and van der Waals interactions significantly affect adsorption kinetics.

Contribution

The paper introduces a colloidal Monte Carlo model that accounts for conformational changes and distinguishes the effects of short- and long-range interactions on protein adsorption.

Findings

Three-step adsorption kinetics observed experimentally.

Van der Waals forces impact protein layer properties.

Surface chemistry and substrate interactions jointly influence adsorption.

Abstract

We have studied the adsorption kinetics of the protein amylase at solid/liquid interfaces. Offering substrates with tailored properties, we are able to separate the impact of short- and long-range interactions. By means of a colloidal Monte Carlo approach including conformational changes of the adsorbed proteins induced by density fluctuations, we develop a scenario that is consistent with the experimentally observed three-step kinetics on specific substrates. Our observations show that not only the surface chemistry determines the properties of an adsorbed protein layer but also the van der Waals contributions of a composite substrate may lead to non-negligible effects.