Sonocatalytic damage of bovine serum albumin (BSA) under ultrasonic irradiation with TiO2/tooth composite

BACKGROUND: In order to effectively degrade bovine serum albumin (BSA) under ultrasonic irradiation, biological mineral material (tooth powder) was adopted to mix with nano-sized TiO2 powder. A TiO2/tooth composite with high sonocatalytic activity and remarkable selectivity was prepared. RESULTS: TiO2/tooth composite with tooth content of 30% (w/w) heat-treated at 500 °C for 40 min was used as sonocatalyst and the catalytic degradation of BSA under ultrasonic irradiation was examined. Some influencing factors, such as ultrasonic irradiation time, TiO2/tooth catalyst amount, solution acidity and NaCl concentration, were studied by UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopic analysis. Furthermore, the BSA attack site for the TiO2/tooth composite was identifies by synchronous fluorescence spectra. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that, under ultrasonic irradiation, the TiO2/tooth composite can promote the degradation of BSA more effectively than pure nano-sized TiO2 powder. The attack site is identified as tyrosine (Tyr) residue. These results are of great significance for the use of a sonocatalytic method to treat tumours in clinical applications. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry