The salt-dependence of a protein-ligand interaction: Ion-protein binding energetics

Using the binding of a nucleotide inhibitor (guanosine-3'-monophosphate) to a ribonuclease (ribonuclease Sa) as a model system, we show that the salt-dependence of the interaction arises due to specific ion binding at the site of nucleoticle binding. The presence of specific ion-protein binding is concluded from a combination of differential scanning calorimetry and NMR data. Isothermal titration calorimetry data are then fit to determine the energetic profile (enthalpy, entropy, and heat capacity) for both the ionprotein and nucleotide-protein interactions. The results provide insight into the energetics of charge-charge interactions, and have implications for the interpretation of an observed salt-dependence. Further, the presence of specific ion-binding leads to a system behavior as a function of temperature that is drastically different from that predicted from Poisson-Boltzmann calculations. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.