Spectral investigations of the interaction of some porphyrins with bovine serum albumin

Spectrofluorimetric analysis of the binding of a target molecule to serum albumin: tricky aspects and tips

Protein binding heavily modulates drug activity. Therefore, the binding features need to be elucidated when chemistry researchers study new molecules (metal complexes) to be used as drugs. This paper concerns the experimental and data treatment aspects of the mechanistic analysis of the binding to a fluorescent protein (the golden standard serum albumin) by using direct fluorescence titrations. Fluorescence data are not rarely only qualitatively used, neglecting further treatments which could offer a precious detailed picture of the behavior of the drug. We aim to spread a mechanistic approach, discussing the critical aspects for correctly designing the experiments and treating the data. The researcher may confirm adduct formation and evaluate binding constants (Stern-Volmer K_SV or other types of K). Also, we discuss here, with the help of literature examples, the correct use of temperature dependence of K to extract thermodynamic parameters, comment on enthalpy-entropy compensation, together with the use of synchronous spectra and exchange experiments to gain information on the binding type and site. We think that this tutorial/critical synopsis can be of help for the increasing community dealing with these experiments, which are valuable but often much more tricky than it might appear at first sight.

Fe Porphyrin-Based SOD Mimic and Redox-Active Compound, (OH)FeTnHex-2-PyP4+, in a Rodent Ischemic Stroke (MCAO) Model: Efficacy and Pharmacokinetics as Compared to Its Mn Analogue, (H2O)MnTnHex-2-PyP5+

Mn(III) meso-tetrakis(N-n-hexylpyridinium-2-yl)porphyrin, (H₂O)MnTnHex-2-PyP⁵⁺ (MnHex) carrying long hexyl chains, is a lipophilic mimic of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and a redox-active drug candidate. MnHex crosses the blood–brain barrier, and improved neurologic outcome and decreased infarct size and inflammation in a rat middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) ischemic stroke model. Yet, the dose and the therapeutic efficacy of Mn porphyrin were limited by an adverse effect of arterial hypotension. An equally lipophilic Fe analog, (OH)FeTnHex-2-PyP⁴⁺ (FeHex), is as redox-active and potent SOD mimic in vitro. With different coordination geometry of the metal site, FeHex has one hydroxo (OH) ligand (instead of water) bound to the Fe center in the axial position. It has ~2 orders of magnitude higher efficacy than MnHex in an SOD-deficient E. coli model of oxidative stress. In vivo, it does not cause arterial hypotension and is less toxic to mice. We thus evaluated FeHex versus MnHex in a rodent MCAO model. We first performed short- and long-term pharmacokinetics (PK) of both porphyrins in the plasma, brain, and liver of rats and mice. Given that damage to the brain during stroke occurs very rapidly, fast delivery of a sufficient dose of drug is important. Therefore, we aimed to demonstrate if, and how fast after reperfusion, Fe porphyrin reaches the brain relative to the Mn analog. A markedly different plasma half-life was found with FeHex (~23 h) than with MnHex (~1.4 h), which resulted in a more than 2-fold higher plasma exposure (AUC) in a 7-day twice-daily treatment of rats. The increased plasma half-life is explained by the much lower liver retention of FeHex than typically found in Mn analogs. In the brain, a 3-day mouse PK study showed similar levels of MnHex and FeHex. The same result was obtained in a 7-day rat PK study, despite the higher plasma exposure of FeHex. Importantly, in a short-term PK study with treatment starting 2 h post MCAO, both Fe- and Mn- analogs distributed at a higher level to the injured brain hemisphere, with a more pronounced effect observed with FeHex. While a 3-day mouse MCAO study suggested the efficacy of Fe porphyrin, in a 7-day rat MCAO study, Mn-, but not Fe porphyrin, was efficacious. The observed lack of FeHex efficacy was discussed in terms of significant differences in the chemistry of Fe vs. the Mn center of metalloporphyrin; relative to MnHex, FeHex has the propensity for axial coordination, which in vivo would preclude the reactivity of the Fe center towards small reactive species.

Comparative study of binding interactions between porphyrin systems and aromatic compounds of biological importance by multiple spectroscopic techniques: A review

The specific spectroscopic and redox properties of porphyrins predestine them to fulfill the role of sensors during interacting with different biologically active substances. Monitoring of binding interactions in the systems porphyrin-biologically active compound is a key question not only in the field of physiological functions of living organisms, but also in environmental protection, notably in the light of the rapidly growing drug consumption and concurrently the production of drug effluents. Not always beneficial action of drugs on natural porphyrin systems induces to further studies, with commercially available porphyrins as the model systems. Therefore the binding process between several water-soluble porphyrins and a series of biologically active compounds (e.g. caffeine, guanine, theophylline, theobromine, xanthine, uric acid) has been studied in different aqueous solutions analyzing their absorption and steady-state fluorescence spectra, the porphyrin fluorescence lifetimes and their quantum yields. The magnitude of the binding and fluorescence quenching constants values for particular quenchers decreases in a series: uric acid > guanine > caffeine > theophylline > theobromine > xanthine. In all the systems studied there are characters of static quenching, as a consequence of the π-π-stacked non-covalent and non-fluorescent complexes formation between porphyrins and interacting compounds, accompanied simultaneously by the additional specific binding interactions. The porphyrin fluorescence quenching can be explain by the photoinduced intermolecular electron transfer from aromatic compound to the center of the porphyrin molecule, playing the role of the binding site. Presented results can be valuable for designing of new fluorescent porphyrin chemosensors or monitoring of drug traces in aqueous solutions. The obtained outcomes have also the toxicological and medical importance, providing insight into the interactions of the water-soluble porphyrins with biologically active substances.

Probing Temperature- and pH-Dependent Binding between Quantum Dots and Bovine Serum Albumin by Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy

Luminescent quantum dots (QDs) with unique optical properties have potential applications in bio-imaging. The interaction between QDs and bio-molecules is important to the biological effect of QDs in vivo. In this paper, we have employed fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to probe the temperature- and pH-dependent interactions between CdSe QDs with carboxyl (QDs-COOH) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) in buffer solutions. The results have shown that microscopic dissociation constant K'D is in the range of (1.5 ± 0.2) × 10-5 to (8.6 ± 0.1) × 10-7 M, the Hill coefficient n is from 0.4 to 2.3, and the protein corona thickness is from 3.0 to 9.4 nm. Variable-temperature measurements have shown both negative values of ∆H and ∆S for BSA adsorption on QDs-COOH, while pH has a profound effect on the adsorption. Additional, FCS measurement QDs-COOH and proteins in whole mice serum and plasma samples has also been conducted. Finally, simulation results have shown four favored QD binding sites in BSA.

Cationic pyridinium porphyrins appending different peripheral substituents: spectroscopic studies on their interactions with bovine serum albumin

The interaction of cationic pyridinium porphyrins appending methylpyridyl, hydroxyphenyl, propionoxyphenyl or carboxyphenyl group at meso-20-position of porphyrin core with bovine serum albumin (BSA), was studied by the combination of absorption spectroscopy, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and synchronous spectroscopy. The spectral monitoring results indicate that the studied compounds could bind with the BSA molecule and the calculated binding constants show that the tetracationic porphyrin has higher binding affinity than those tricationic ones. The interactions between porphyrins and BSA employ an electrostatic binding mechanism and there was only one binding site which located on the surface of the protein molecule.

Complexes of bovine serum albumin with water-soluble Cu and Co containing cationic meso-tetra(4-N-oxyethylpyridyl)-porphyrins

Bovine serum albumin complexes with water-soluble cationic porphyrins, Cu - and Co-meso-tetra(4- N -hydroxyethylpyridyl)porphyrins ( CuT4OEPyP , CoT4OEPyP ), and their 3- N -analogs, meso-tetra(3- N -hydroxyethylpyridyl)porphyrins ( CuT3OEPyP , CoT3OEPyP ), have been investigated. The porphyrin-bovine serum albumin binding was monitored by the absorption in the visible region at 400-460 nm. The stoichiometry of binding and the binding constants of the porphyrins to bovine serum albumin were determined using binding isotherms and Scatchard plots. The K b values obtained for these porphyrin- bovine serum albumin complexes are 1.7 × 105 M −1, 3.2 × 105 M −1, 1.4 × 105 M −1 and 3 × 105 M −1 respectively. Binding constants are sensitive to pH and ionic strength of the solution.

A novel low symmetry sulfur containing porphyrazine: synthesis and its interaction with serum albumin

A novel low symmetry sulfur-containing porphyrazine, 5,23,28,32-octabutoxy-10,11,17,18-tetrahydro-[9,12,16,19]-tetrathiino-33H, 35H-dinaphtho-porphyrazine (OTTDP), was synthesized by mixed condensation and characterized by NMR, FAB-MS and UV-visible spectra; this complex was found to be low aggregation in organic solvents and can interact with the serum albumin at several binding sites.

Thermodynamics investigation of a series of metalloporphyrazine-bovine serum albumin complexes

The equilibrium binding of the tetra-cationic complexes ( N , N ′, N ″, N ‴-tetra-methyltetra-2,3-pyridinoporphyrazinato)copper(II), ([ Cu (2,3- TMTPPA )]4+), ( N , N ′, N ″, N ‴-tetra-methyltetra-3,4-pyridinoporphyrazinato)copper(II), ([ Cu (3,4- TMTPPA )]4+), (( N , N ′, N ″, N ‴-tetra-methyltetra-3,4-pyridinoporphyrazinato)cobalt(II), ([ Co (3,4- TMTPPA )]4+) and (( N , N ′, N ″, N ‴-tetra-methyltetra-3,4-pyridinoporphyrazinato)zinc(II), ([ Zn (3,4- TMTPPA )]4+) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been studied in phosphate buffer pH = 7.0 and at various temperatures using multi-spectroscopy techniques. The results of resonance light scattering (RLS) studies represent no aggregate formation of porphyrazine in the surface of BSA and low tendency of these porphyrazine for aggregate formation. The binding constants and binding stoichiometries were determined by analyzing of optical absorption spectra of porphyrazine complexes at various concentration of BSA using SQUAD software. The results show that the best fitting corresponds to a 1:1 complex model between BSA and porphyrazines. The thermodynamic parameters were calculated by van't Hoff equation at various temperatures. The data indicate that the process is entropy driven suggesting that hydrophobic interactions play a considerable role in the complex formation. The binding of porphyrazine complexes to BSA quenches fluorescence emission of BSA via a dynamic mechanism and the quenching process obeys a linear Stern-Volmer relationship. The average aggregation number of BSA, which has been calculated from the analysis of fluorescence quenching data, indicates the absence of any porphyrazine induced aggregation of BSA due to its interaction with porphyrazine complexes. Fluorescence studies also indicate that porphyrazine is bound to site I of BSA placed in sub-domain IIA, where tryptophan 214 is located.

Interaction of monosulfonate tetraphenyl porphyrin (H2TPPS1) with plant-esterase: determination of the binding mechanism by spectroscopic methods

The interaction of monosulfonate tetraphenyl porphyrin (H(2)TPPS(1)) with plant-esterase was investigated using fluorescence and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. Fluorescence quenching, from which the binding parameters were evaluated, revealed that the quenching of the esterase by H(2)TPPS(1) resulted from the formation of a dye-esterase complex. According to the modified Stern-Volmer equation, the effective quenching constants (K(a)) between H(2)TPPS(1) and plant-esterase at four different temperatures (297 K, 300 K, 303 K, and 306 K) were obtained to be 14.132×10(5), 5.734×10(5), 2.907×10(5), and 2.291×10(5) M(-1), respectively. The thermodynamic parameters, enthalpy change (ΔH) and entropy change (ΔS) for the reaction were calculated to be -181.67 kJ M(-1) and -0.49 kJ M(-1)K(-1), indicating that van der Waals force and hydrogen bonds were the dominant intermolecular force in stabilizing the complex. Site marker competitive experiments showed that the binding of H(2)TPPS(1) to plant-esterase primarily took place in the active site. The binding distance (r) was obtained to be 5.99 nm according to Förster theory of non-radioactive energy transfer. The conformation of plant-esterase was investigated by synchronous fluorescence and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, and the results confirmed some micro-environmental and conformational changes of plant-esterase molecules.

Study on the interaction between Cu phen2+3 and bovine serum albumin by spectroscopic methods

In this work, the interaction between Cu(phen)(2+)(3) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy combined with UV-vis absorption and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopic techniques under physiological conditions. The fluorescence data proved that the fluorescence quenching of BSA by Cu(phen)(2+)(3) was the result of the Cu(phen)(2+)(3) -BSA complex formation. The binding constants (K (a)) between Cu(phen)(2+)(3) and BSA at four different temperatures were calculated according to the modified Stern-Volmer equation. The enthalpy change (DeltaH) and entropy change (DeltaS) were calculated to be 10.74 kJ mol(-1) and 54.35 J mol(-1) K(-1), respectively, which indicated that electrostatic interactions played a major role in the formation of Cu(phen)(2+)(3) -BSA complex. The distance r between the donor (BSA) and acceptor[Cu(phen)(2+)(3)] was obtained to be 3.55 nm based on Förster's energy transfer theory. The synchronous fluorescence and CD spectroscopy results showed that the polarity of the residues increased and the lost of the alpha-helix content of BSA (from 59.84 to 53.70%). These indicated that the microenvironment and conformation of BSA were changed in the presence of Cu(phen)(2+)(3).

Fluorescence Study on the Interaction of Bovine Serum Albumin with P-Aminoazobenzene

In this paper, the interaction between p-aminoazobenzene (PAAB) and BSA was investigated mainly by fluorescence quenching spectra, circular dichroism (CD) and three-dimensional fluorescence spectra under simulative physiological conditions. It was proved that the fluorescence quenching of BSA by PAAB was mainly a result of the formation of a PAAB-BSA complex. The modified Stern-Volmer quenching constant K(a) and the corresponding thermodynamic parameters DeltaH, DeltaG and DeltaS at different temperatures were calculated. The results indicated that van der Waals interactions and hydrogen bonds were the predominant intermolecular forces in stabilizing the complex. The distance r=4.33 nm between the donor (BSA) and acceptor (PAAB) was obtained according to Förster's non-radioactive energy transfer theory. The synchronous fluorescence, CD and three-dimensional fluorescence spectral results showed that the hydrophobicity of amino acid residues increased and the losing of alpha-helix content (from 63.57 to 51.83%) in the presence of PAAB. These revealed that the microenvironment and conformation of BSA were changed in the binding reaction.

Aggregation of two carboxylic derivatives of porphyrin and their affinity to bovine serum albumin

Aggregation of two porphyrin derivatives with carboxylic groups, 4-oxo-4-((4-(10,15,20-triphenyl-21H,23H-porphin-5-yl)phenyl)amino)butanoic acid (MAC) and 4,4',4'',4'''-[21H,23H-porphine-5,10,15,20-tetrayltetrakis(4,1-phenyleneimino)]tetrakis(4-oxo-butanoic acid) (TA4C), and their affinity to bovine serum albumin were investigated via absorption spectrometry, (1)H NMR and fluorescence spectrometry. MAC and its complexes with beta-cyclodextrin could form aggregates in an aqueous solution while TA4C was self-associated loosely. From the absorbance profiles of MAC in the titration of bovine serum albumin, hypochromicity was observed without any shift of the maximum absorbance wavelength. In both absorption spectra of TA4C in aqueous solutions and in solid state, three Q bands appeared in the visible region. In the measurements of absorption and fluorescence spectra upon titration of BSA, some spectral changes of TA4C were observed. The whole procedure of titration could be divided into three successive stages. The three-banded profiles of TA4C might be explained according to a loose dimer model.

Amphiphilic corroles bind tightly to human serum albumin

Amphiphilic 2,17-bis-sulfonato-5,10,15(trispentafluorophenyl)corrole (2) and its Ga and Mn complexes (2-Ga and 2-Mn) form tightly bound noncovalent conjugates with human serum albumin (HSA). Protein-induced changes in the electronic absorption, emission, and circular dichroism spectra of these corroles, as well as results obtained from HPLC profiles of the conjugates and selective fluorescence quenching of the single HSA tryptophan, are interpreted in terms of multiple corrole:HSA binding sites. High-affinity binding sites, close to the unique tryptophan, are fully occupied at very low concentrations. At biologically relevant HSA concentrations (2-3 orders of magnitude larger than those employed in our studies), all corroles (2, 2-Ga, and 2-Mn) may be considered as fully conjugated.

In vitro interaction of macrocyclic photosensitizers with intact mitochondria: a spectroscopic study

Six water-soluble macrocyclic photosensitizers, the members of two groups of expanded porphyrins (metallotexaphyrins and free-base sapphyrins) containing hydrophilic substituents and meso-tetra(4-sulfonatophenyl)-porphyrin, were tested by UV-Vis absorption and resonance Raman spectroscopy in the in vitro binding experiments with intact mitochondria isolated from swine liver. Studied macrocycles showed markedly different affinity to mitochondria. The highest uptake was observed for sapphyrin-sugar conjugate and metallotexaphyrins. Sapphyrin-polyamine conjugates exhibit something less affinity to mitochondria, while the porphyrin of anionic character showed very low mitochondrial uptake. Obtained spectroscopic results confirm that the binding process altered the self-aggregation degree of expanded porphyrins.

Induced chirality upon binding of cis-parinaric acid to bovine beta-lactoglobulin: spectroscopic characterization of the complex

Binding of the polyunsaturated cis-parinaric acid to bovine beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) was studied by circular dichroism (CD), electronic absorption spectroscopy and mass spectrometry methods. Upon protein binding, the UV absorption band of parinaric acid is red shifted by ca. 5 nm, showing hypochromism and reduced vibrational fine structure, suggesting that the ligand binds as a monomer in non-planar geometry. In the CD spectra measured at pH 7.36 and 8.5 a strong, negative Cotton band appears centered at 310 nm (Delta epsilon = -25 M(-1) cm(-1)) corresponding to the long-wavelength absorption band of cis-parinaric acid. The source of this induced optical activity is the helical distortion of the polyene chromophore caused by the chiral protein environment. From CD spectral data the value of the association constant was calculated to be 4.7 x 10(5) M(-1) at pH 7.36. CD and mass spectrometry measurements showed that parinaric acid binds weakly to BLG in acidic solution, though small peaks at mass 18,559 and 18,645 can be obtained in the reconstructed electrospray mass spectrum; these correspond to the binding of parinaric acid in 1:1 stoichiometry to both monomer variants of BLG B and A. The hydrophobic interior cavity of BLG was assigned as the primary binding site of cis-parinaric acid.