Spreading of proteins and its effect on adsorption and desorption kinetics

The kinetics of adsorption of lysozyme and α-lactalbumin from aqueous solution on silica and hydrophobized silica has been studied. The initial rate of adsorption of lysozyme at the hydrophilic surface is comparable with the limiting flux. For lysozyme at the hydrophobic surface and α-lactalbumin on both surfaces, the rate of adsorption is lower than the limiting flux, but the adsorption proceeds cooperatively, as manifested by an increase in the adsorption rate after the first protein molecules are adsorbed. At the hydrophilic surface, adsorption saturation (reflected in a steady-state value of the adsorbed amount) of both proteins strongly depends on the rate of adsorption, but for the hydrophobic surface no such dependency is observed. It points to structural relaxation (“spreading”) of the adsorbed protein molecules, which occurs at the hydrophobic surface faster than at the hydrophilic one. For lysozyme, desorption has been studied as well. It is found that the desorbable fraction decreases after longer residence time of the protein at the interface.