title: Insights into the interactions between tetracycline, its degradation products and bovine serum albumin.
abstract: Tetracyclines (TCs) are the most widely used antibiotics in the world. Because antibiotics have low bioavailability and are difficult to completely remove using current sewage treatment facilities, residual TCs and their degradation products in the environment, animal and plant foodstuffs and personal care products may enter the body through the food chain, thus causing unpredictable effects on human health. We studied bovine serum albumin (BSA) (a functional protein) as a target of tetracycline-induced toxicity by examining its interactions with TC, anhydrotetracycline (ATC) and epitetracycline (ETC), based on a fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular docking method under simulated physiological conditions. The interaction mechanism was elucidated at the molecular level. The results show that TC, ATC and ETC bind at site II of BSA and interact mainly through hydrogen bonding interactions and van der Waals interactions. The binding affinities can be ranked in the order ATC > TC > ETC.
authors.affiliation: College of Biology and Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou, 310015 China.
authors.forename: Xingyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: College of Biology and Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou, 310015 China.
authors.forename: Manfei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 China.
authors.forename: Jingqian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: College of Biology and Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou, 310015 China.
authors.forename: Kefeng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Biology and Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou, 310015 China.
authors.forename: Dongmei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xu
keywords: BSA; Degradation products; Molecular docking; Spectroscopic method; Tetracycline