Choosy: Three hydroxyquinolines (HQs) are used as probes to reveal more details about the binding nature of one of the major drug‐binding sites of human serum albumin (Sudlow I) and to unravel the local environment around the probes in the binding site. The results (see picture) indicate the existence of water in the binding site and that a selective interaction between HQs and Trp214 in the native state unmasks the tyrosine fluorescence.

Human serum albumin (HSA) is the most abundant protein in blood plasma. It has high relevance for the lipid metabolism, and its ability to bind a large variety of natural and pharmaceutical compounds makes it a crucial determinant of drug pharmaco-kinetics and -dynamics. The drug binding properties of HSA can be characterized by spectroscopic analysis of bound probe molecules. We have recently characterized the subdomain IIA binding site of HSA using three hydroxyquinoline derivatives. In this work, we extend our study by combining data from energy transfer experiments, ligand docking, and long molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Multiple possible binding locations are found within the subdomain IIA site, and their solvent accessibility and interactions with ligands are analyzed in detail. Binding pockets appear well hydrated during simulations, with ligands in direct contact to water molecules at all times. Binding free energies in good agreement to experiment are calculated. The HSA apoprotein is found to exhibit significant conformational flexibility over 250 ns of simulation time, but individual domains remain structurally stable. Two rotamers of Trp214 were observed on a time scale longer than 50 ns in the MD simulations, supporting the experimental observation of two fluorescence lifetime components. The flexible protein structure and heterogeneous nature of its binding sites explain the ability of HSA to act as a versatile molecular transporter. The combination of experimental and computational molecular distance information allows the conclusion that hydroxyquinoline probes bind in a binding mode similar to the anticoagulant drug warfarin.

Tautomerism in the ground and excited states of 7-hydroxyquinoline (7HQ) was studied in different solvents using steady-state and lifetime spectroscopic measurements, density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Equilibrium between the enol and the keto/zwitterion tautomers exists in 7HQ, which is solvent-dependent. Of the solvents used in this study, only in water does the absorbance spectrum of 7HQ show absorption from both the enol and zwitterion tautomers. In addition, in aqueous media, fluorescence is observed from the zwitterion tautomer only, which is attributed to self-quenching of the enol fluorescence by energy transfer to the ground-state zwitterion tautomer and energetically favorable excited-state proton transfer. Solvation of the hydrogen bonding sites of 7HQ was studied in binary mixtures of 1,4-dioxane and water, and three water molecules were estimated to connect the polar sites and induce intermolecular proton transfer. The results are confirmed by DFT calculations showing that three water molecules are the minimum number required to form a stable solvent wire. Mapping the water density around the polar sites using MD simulations shows well-defined hydrogen bonds around the amino and hydroxyl groups of the enol tautomer and slightly less well-defined hydrogen bonds for the zwitterion tautomer. The presence of three-member water wires connecting the polar centers in 7HQ is evident in the MD simulations. The results point to the unique spectral signatures of 7HQ in water, which make this molecule a potential probe to detect the presence of water in nanocavities of macromolecules.

We have recently used 6-, 7-, and 8-hydroxyquinolines (HQs) as fluorescent probes to study the binding mechanism in one of the drug binding sites of human serum albumin. In the present work we study the absorption spectra of the HQ molecules in neat and binary mixtures of dioxane and water in order to identify the different tautomeric species in the ground state. This study should help in identifying the environment in nanocavities of macromolecules when HQs are used as local reporters. The enol form is shown to be the only tautomer for the three HQs in dioxane and water, with the exception of 7HQ in which both the enol and the zwitterion tautomers exist in equilibrium in water. The results are confirmed by the density functional theory (DFT) calculations using the B3LYP method with a 6-311++G(2d,p) basis set. In water-rich dioxane mixtures, all HQs are protonated. The results were confirmed by comparing the absorption spectra in binary solvents with those in acidic and basic aqueous solutions, and by DFT calculations of the Franck-Condon S1 ← S0 transitions. The number of water molecules solvating the polar sites in each HQ molecule was estimated from the spectral change in the binary solvent mixtures, and structures were calculated by DFT. Mapping the water density around the polar sites in each HQ using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations shows well-defined hydrogen bonds around the N-heteroatom in each HQ molecule. Water density is only well-defined around the hydroxyl group in 8HQ. The MD simulations indicate free rotation of the OH group in 6HQ and 7HQ, and the stability of the cis-isomer in 8HQ. The results point to the unique spectral signatures of 7HQ in water which make this molecule a potential probe to detect the presence of water in nanocavities of macromolecules, and to the ability of the three HQs to detect acidic media in binding sites.

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