Binding of Oxytetracycline to Bovine Serum Albumin: Spectroscopic and Molecular Modeling Investigations

The residue of the widely used veterinary drug oxytetracycline (OTC) in the environment (e.g., animal food, soils, surface water, and groundwater) is potentially harmful. Knowledge of its binding to proteins contributes to the understanding of its toxicity in vivo. This work establishes the binding mode of OTC with bovine serum albumin (BSA) under physiological conditions by spectroscopic methods and molecular modeling techniques. The inner filter effect was eliminated to get accurate data (binding parameters). On the basis of the thermodynamic results and site marker competition experiments, it was considered that OTC binds to site II (subdomain IIIA) of BSA mainly by electrostatic interaction. Furthermore, using the BSA model established with CPHmodels, molecular docking and some other molecular modeling methods were applied to further define that OTC interacts with the Arg 433, Arg 436, Ala 429, and Pro 516 residues of BSA. In addition, UV-visible absorption, synchronous fluorescence, and circular dichroism (CD) results showed that the binding of OTC can cause conformational and some microenvironmental changes of BSA. The work provides accurate and full basic data for clarifying the binding mechanisms of OTC with BSA in vivo and is helpful for understanding its effect on protein function during its transportation and distribution in blood.