Magnetic nanoparticles
are an attractive bioseparation
tool due
to their magnetic susceptibility and high adsorption capacity for
different types of molecules. A major challenge for separation is
to generate selectivity for a target molecule, or for a group of molecules
in complex environments such as cell lysates. It is crucial to understand
the factors that determine the targets’ adsorption behavior
in mixtures for triggering intended interactions and selectivity.
Here we use a model system containing three molecules, each of them
a common representative of the more abundant types of macromolecules
in living systems: sodium oleate (SO), a fatty acid; bovine serum
albumin (BSA), a protein; and dextran, a polysaccharide. Our results
show that (a) the BSA adsorption capacity on the iron oxide material
depends markedly on the pH, with the maximum capacity at the pI of
the protein (0.39 g gMNP
-1 ); (b) sodium oleate,
a strongly negatively charged molecule, an organic anion, renders
a maximum adsorption capacity of 0.40 g gMNP
-1, even at pHs at which oleate as well as the nanoparticle surface
are negatively charged; (c) the adsorbed masses of dextran, a neutral
sugar, are lower than for the other two molecules, between 0.09 and
0.13 g gMNP
-1, regardless of the system’s
pH. We observe an unexpected behavior in mixtures: SO completely prevents
the adsorption of BSA, and dextran decreases the adsorption of the
other competitors, SO and BSA, while adsorbing at the same capacities,
unaffected by either the presence of the other two molecules or the
pH. BSA does not decrease the oleate adsorption capacity. We demonstrate
the essential role of pH in the adsorption of BSA (a protein) and
SO (a fatty acid), as well as its impact in the structural organization
of the oleate molecules in water. Moreover, we present exciting data
on the adsorption of the molecules in competition, revealing the need
to focus on interaction studies in more complex environments. This
study attempts to open the scope of the current research of bio-nano
interactions to not only proteins but also to mixtures, and generally
to molecules with other physicochemical characteristics. Furthermore,
we contribute to the understanding of multicomponent systems with
the vision set in enhancing biomass exploitation and biofractionation
processes.