Investigation of hen egg white lysozyme structure and function alterations in the presence of Benzene as a chemical pollutant by spectroscopic methods

Benzene is one of the major pollutants in the air and a chemical compound of the aromatic hydrocarbon group, which is widely used in the industry. Exposure to benzene can lead to biologic damages, especially cancer, as it has been reported in many studies of benzene mortality. In this study, we examined the interaction between benzene and lysozyme enzyme which plays a major role in non-specific immunity in the body and also is a natural antibiotic. Structural changes resulting from the interaction of benzene and egg white lysozyme by spectroscopic methods showed that the protein 3D structure changed in the presence of different concentrations of benzene. Changes in the protein function will induce multiple consequences in the biological phenomena at the cellular levels. Lysozyme extrinsic fluorescence was also indicated a significant increase in the presence of benzene. The results of the chemiluminescence method suggested that, with increasing benzene concentration, the production of free radicals was increased. Therefore, the destructive effect of benzene on the lysozyme structure is due to the production of reactive oxygen radicals. Because of the relationship between structure and function in proteins, benzene plays a major role in its function by changing the protein structure. By measuring the activity of enzyme in the presence of different concentrations of benzene, the lysozyme function was reduced.