Studies of dynamic binding of amino acids to TiO2 nanoparticle surfaces by Solution NMR and Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Abstract

Adsorption of biomolecules onto material surfaces involves a potentially complex mechanism where molecular species interact to varying degrees with a heterogeneous material surface. Surface adsorption studies by atomic force microscopy (AFM), Sum Frequency Generation (SFG) spectroscopy, and solid state NMR (ssNMR), detect the structures and interactions of biomolecular species that are bound to material surfaces and which, in the absence of a solid liquid interface, do not exchange rapidly between surface-bound forms and free molecular species in bulk solution. Solution NMR has the potential to complement these techniques by detecting and studying transiently bound biomolecules at the liquid-solid interface. Herein we show that dark-state exchange saturation transfer (DEST) NMR experiments on gel-stabilized TiO2 nanoparticle (NP) samples detect several forms of biomolecular adsorption onto titanium (IV) oxide surfaces. Specifically, we use the DEST approach to study the interaction of amino acids arginine (Arg), lysine (Lys), leucine (Leu), alanine (Ala), and aspartic acid (Asp) with TiO2 rutile nanoparticle surfaces. Whereas Leu, Ala, and Asp display only a single weakly interacting form in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles , Arg and Lys displayed at least two distinct bound forms: a species that is surface bound and retains a degree of reorientational motion, and a second more tightly bound form characterized by broadened DEST profiles upon addition of TiO2 nanoparticles. Molecular Dynamics simulations indicate different surface bound states for both Lys and Arg depending on the degree of TiO2 surface hydroxylation, but only a single bound state for Asp regardless of the degree of surface hydroxylation, in agreement with results obtained from analysis of DEST profiles.