Thermodynamic study of the dimerization of 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid by isothermal titration calorimetry

Dimerization of the fluorescence probe, 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid (ANS) in aqueous media have been studied by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). ITC experiments carried out at different pHs show that dimerization constants are highly pH dependent, decreasing their values with increasing pH. No dimerization is detected over pH 7. Analyzing the dependence of K_dim on pH, using a model that only considers dimers between zwitterionic molecules of ANS, a value of 5.6 for the pK of anilinium moiety is obtained. It is in agreement with the pK determined spectrophotometrically. The dimerization process is enthalpically disfavored and entropically driven at all pH and temperatures studied, indicating that hydrophobic effect has an important role on the formation of dimers. Although dimerization constants are low, dimerization equilibria must be taken into account when the energetics of the interaction of ANS to a protein is studied at pH below 7.