How does bovine serum albumin prevent the formation of kidney stone? A kinetics study

Abstract

To attain a better understanding of the crystallization of calcium oxalate crystals under the influence of the protein bovine serum albumin, we examined not only the nucleation kinetics but also the structural synergy between the biomineral and the biosubstrate. It follows that during the crystallization process of calcium oxalate crystals bovine serum albumin inhibits the nucleation of calcium oxalate by increasing the kink kinetics barrier. The results of scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction show, however, that bovine serum albumin promotes the formation of calcium oxalate dihydrate. Apart from this, bovine serum albumin facilitates the ordered calcium oxalate crystal assembly by suppressing the supersaturation-driven interfacial structure mismatch. The physics questions behind the mentioned effects have been addressed from the kinetics point of view. This may explain why bovine serum albumin plays an important role in suppressing urine stone formation. © 2006 American Chemical Society.