Intrinsic Tryptophan Fluorescence of Human Serum Proteins and Related Conformational Changes

The unfolding of human serum proteins (HSP) was studied by measuring the intrinsic fluorescence intensity at a wavelength of excitation corresponding to tryptophan’s or typosine’s fluorescence and surface hydrophobicity. The maxima emission wavelengths ( l max) of human serum albumin (HSA) and human serum globulin (HSG) before beer consumption (BC) were 336.0 and 337.0 nm and after BC shifted to 335.0 and 334.0 nm, respectively. The surface hydrophobicity slightly increased after BC. In a solution of 8 M urea the l max of BSA shifted to 346.4 and that of BSG to 342.5 nm. In contrast, in the same solution but after BC the l max positions of HSA and HSG shifted to 355.9 and 357.7 nm, respectively. A decrease in fluorescence intensity, a shift in the maximum of emission, and an increase in surface hydrophobicity which reflected unfolding of proteins were observed. Here we provide evidence that the loosening of the HSP structure takes place primarily in various con-centrations of urea before and after beer consumption. Differences in the fluorescence behavior of the proteins are attributed to disruption of the structure of proteins by denaturants as well as by the change in their compactability as a result of ethanol consumption. KEY WORDS: Human serum proteins; fluorescence; ethanol; denaturation. 1