Langmuir, Vol.26, No.22, 16681-16689, 2010
On the Self-Assembly of a Highly Selective Benzothiazole-Based TIM Inhibitor in Aqueous Solution
Benzothiazole is a common scaffold on which many bioactive structures, including protein inhibitors and biosensors, are based. The potential sell-aggregation of such molecules to form nanoparticles is relevant for a number of practical applications. 3(2-Benzothiazolylthio)-propanesulfonic acid (BTS) has been reported as a powerful and selective inhibitor of triosephosphate isomerase from Trypanosoma cruzi the parasite that causes the Chagas' disease. Electrical conductivity, sound velocity, density, and nuclear magnetic resonance experiments as a function of temperature and of NaCl concentration have been performed in the present work to provide a comprehensive physicochemical description of this compound in aqueous solution. Molecular dynamics simulations of the same system were also performed to characterize the structure and dynamic behavior of the corresponding aggregates at several concentrations of BTS.