Effect of Oil Polarity on the Protein Adsorption at Oil–Water Interfaces

Abstract

Protein adsorption at oil–water interfaces has received much attention in applications of food emulsion and biocatalysis. The protein activity is influenced by the protein orientation and conformation. The oil polarity is expected to influence the orientation and conformation of adsorbed proteins by modulating intermolecular interactions. Hence, it is possible to tune the protein emulsion stability and activity by varying the oil polarity. Martini v3.0-based coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CGMD) simulations were employed to investigate the effect of oil polarity on the orientation and conformation of hydrophobin (HFBI) and Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) adsorbed at triolein–water, hexadecane–water, and octanol–water interfaces for the first time. The protein adsorption orientation was predicted through the hydrophobic dipole, indicating that protein adsorption exists in preferred orientations at hydrophobic oil interfaces. The conformation of the adsorbed HFBI is well conserved, whereas relatively larger conformational changes occur during the CALB adsorption as the oil hydrophobicity increases. Comparisons on the adsorption interaction energy of proteins with oils confirm the relationship between the oil polarity and the interaction strength of proteins with oils. In addition, CGMD simulations allow longer time scale simulations of the behaviors of protein adsorption at oil–water interfaces.