Staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) is a toxin protein, and is the most common cause of staphylococcal food poisoning. Polyphenols, such as catechins, are known to interact with proteins. In this study, we investigated the binding of catechins to SEA using SPR (Biacore), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), and protein-ligand docking. We found that (−)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) could strongly bind to SEA. According to thermodynamic parameters, a negative ΔG indicated that the interaction between EGCG and SEA was spontaneous, and the electrostatic force accompanied by hydrophobic binding forces may play a major role in the binding. Data from Western blot analysis and docking simulation suggest that the hydroxyl group at position 3 of the galloyl group in the catechin structure was responsible for binding affinity with the Y91 of the A-6 region of SEA active sites. Our results provide further understanding of the binding interactions between catechins and SEA, and the inhibition of toxin activities by catechins.
Keywords: (−)-epigallocatechin gallate; catechins; molecular docking; staphylococcal enterotoxin A.