Myricetin and morin hydrate inhibit amyloid fibril formation of bovine α-lactalbumin (BLA)

Amyloid fibrils are self-assembled aggregates of proteins and peptides that can lead to a broad range of diseases called amyloidosis. So far, no definitive and approved treatment to target directly amyloid fibrils has been introduced. Nevertheless, the search for small molecules with ability to inhibit and suppress fibril formation is an active and promising area of the research. Herein, the binding interactions and inhibitory effects of myricetin and morin hydrate on the in vitro fibrillation of bovine α-lactalbumin (BLA) have been investigated. The intrinsic fluorescence of BLA was quenched by myricetin and morin hydrate through combination of the static and dynamic quenching along with non-radiative Förster energy transfer mechanisms. The binding of these two flavonoids to BLA were not accompanied by major alteration in the conformation of BLA as evidenced by CD studies. The results of the fluorescence quenching analyses indicated almost the same binding affinities of myricetin and morin hydrate toward BLA (Kb ~ 106 M-1). However, the results of thioflavin T (ThT) assays showed that myricetin is a stronger inhibitor against BLA fibrillation compared to morin hydrate.

Comparison of the interaction between lactoferrin and isomeric drugs

The binding properties of pentacyclic triterpenoid isomeric drugs, i.e. ursolic acid (UA) and oleanolic acid (OA), to bovine lactoferrin (BLF) have been studied by molecule modeling, fluorescence spectroscopy, UV-visible absorbance spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy (IR). Molecular docking, performed to reveal the possible binding mode or mechanism, suggested that hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonding play important roles to stabilize the complex. The results of spectroscopic measurements showed that the two isomeric drugs both strongly quenched the intrinsic fluorescence of BLF through a static quenching procedure although some differences between UA and OA binding strength and non-radiation energy transfer occurred within the molecules. The number of binding sites was 3.44 and 3.10 for UA and OA, respectively, and the efficiency of Förster energy transfer provided a distance of 0.77 and 1.21nm for UA and OA, respectively. The conformation transformation of BLF affected by the drugs conformed to the "all-or-none" pattern. In addition, the changes of the ratios of α-helices, β-sheets and β-turns of BLF during the process of the interaction were obtained. The results of the experiments in combination with the calculations showed that there are two modes of pentacyclic triterpenoid binding to BLF instead of one binding mode only governed by the principle of the lowest bonding energy.

Comparative study of the effects of the structurally similar flavonoids quercetin and taxifolin on the therapeutic behavior of alprazolam

After a meal rich in plant products, dietary flavonoids can be detected in plasma as serum albumin bound conjugates. Flavonoid–albumin binding is expected to control the bioavailability of drugs. In this study, the binding of alprazolam (ALP) and human serum albumin (HSA) has been investigated in the absence and presence of two flavonoids with similar structures, quercetin (QUER) and taxifolin (TAX), by means of fluorescence spectroscopy, chemometrics, and molecular dynamics simulation. Our results show that ALP has the ability to quench the intrinsic fluorescence of HSA. This quenching is affected by flavonoids. The presence of QUER and TAX decreased the quenching constants, binding constants, and equilibrium constants associated with ALP binding to HSA. The effect of ALP and both flavonoids on the conformation of HSA was analyzed using synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy. Our results indicate a conformational change of HSA with the addition of ligands. The molecular dynamics study makes an important contribution to understanding the effect of the binding of ALP, QUER, and TAX on conformational changes of HSA and modification of its tertiary structure in the absence and presence of flavonoids. All of these results may have relevant consequences in rationalizing the interferences of common food and drugs.

Inhibition of amyloid fibrillation of hen egg-white lysozyme by the natural and synthetic curcuminoids

As one of the strategies for synthesis of novel amyloid inhibitors, chemical modification of the natural curcuminoids framework can be introduced.

Investigating the effect of gallium curcumin and gallium diacetylcurcumin complexes on the structure, function and oxidative stability of the peroxidase enzyme and their anticancer and antibacterial activities

Curcumin has a wide spectrum of biological and pharmacological activities including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiproliferative, antimicrobial and anticancer activities. Complexation of curcumin with metals has gained attention in recent years for improvement of its stability. In this study, the effect of gallium curcumin and gallium diacetylcurcumin on the structure, function and oxidative stability of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme were evaluated by spectroscopic techniques. In addition to the enzymatic investigation, the cytotoxic effect of the complexes was assessed on bladder, MCF-7 breast cancer and LNCaP prostate carcinoma cell lines by MTT assay. Furthermore, antibacterial activity of the complexes against S. aureus and E. coli was explored by dilution test method. The results showed that the complexes improve activity of HRP and also increase its tolerance against the oxidative condition. After addition of the complexes, affinity of HRP for hydrogen peroxide substrate decreases, while the affinity increases for phenol substrate. Circular dichroism, intrinsic and synchronous fluorescence spectra showed that the enzyme structure around the catalytic heme group becomes less compact and also the distance between the heme group and tryptophan residues increases due to binding of the complexes to HRP. On the whole, it can be concluded that the change in the enzyme structure upon binding to the gallium curcumin and gallium diacetylcurcumin complexes results in an increase in the antioxidant efficiency and activity of the peroxidise enzyme. The result of anticancer and antibacterial activities suggested that the complexes exhibit the potential for cancer treatment, but they have no significant antibacterial activity.

Multispectroscopic and molecular modeling studies on the interaction of two curcuminoids with β-lactoglobulin

This study demonstrates the binding properties of bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC) and diacetylbisdemethoxycurcumin (DABC) as bioactive curcuminoids with bovine β-lactoglobulin (BLG) variant B using fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy; molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation methods. The estimated binding constants for BLG-BDMC and BLG-DABC complexes were (8.99±0.10)×10(4) M(-1) and (1.87±0.10)×10(2) M(-1), respectively. The distances between BLG and these curcuminoids were obtained based on the Förster's theory of non-radiative energy transfer. Molecular docking studies revealed the binding of BDMC and DABC to the protein surface cleft of protein by formation of four and one hydrogen bonds, respectively. Finally, molecular dynamics simulation results represent the conformational changes of BLG due to its interaction with BDMC. Also, the profiles of atomic fluctuations signified the rigidity of ligand binding site during the simulation.

Multi-spectroscopic analysis and molecular modeling on the interaction of curcumin and its derivatives with human serum albumin: a comparative study

The comparative study about the interaction between curcumin and its derivatives (demothxycurcumin and bisdeoxycurcumin) with human serum albumin (HSA) has been carried out using multi-spectroscopic analysis and molecular modeling method. The characteristic of fluorescence quenching and the thermodynamic parameters have been studied by state emission fluorescence experiments under different temperatures with an interval of 6 K. Curcumin shows largest quenching constant and bisdeoxycurcumin shows the smallest at the temperature of 298 K. However, the quenching constant of curcumin drops quickly with the increase of temperature. Demothxycurcumin gives the largest quenching efficiency at the temperature of 310 K. An average distance of 6.7 nm for energy transfer has been determined based on förster resonance energy theory (FRET). The site competitive replacement experiments illustrate three compounds mainly binding on site I (Subdomain IIA) of the protein, and show tendency of binding on site II (Subdomain IIIA) with the removing of methoxyl groups. Circular dichroism spectra and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) have been used to investigate the influence on protein secondary structure. Content of the α-helix increases at low concentrations of the compounds, while unfolding occurs at high concentrations. Docking simulation reveals possible mechanism for different quenching behavior and binding sites preferred by three compounds. The binding modes have effectively supported the conclusion of the experiments.

Binding analysis for interaction of diacetylcurcumin with β-casein nanoparticles by using fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular docking calculations

The interaction of diacetylcurcumin (DAC), as a novel synthetic derivative of curcumin, with bovine β-casein (an abundant milk protein that is highly amphiphilic and self assembles into stable micellar nanoparticles in aqueous solution) was investigated using fluorescence quenching experiments, Forster energy transfer measurements and molecular docking calculations. The fluorescence quenching measurements revealed the presence of a single binding site on β-casein for DAC with the binding constant value equals to (4.40±0.03)×10(4)M(-1). Forster energy transfer measurements suggested that the distance between bound DAC and Trp143 residue is higher than the respective critical distance, hence, the static quenching is more likely responsible for fluorescence quenching other than the mechanism of non-radiative energy transfer. Our results from molecular docking calculations indicated that binding of DAC to β-casein predominantly occurred through hydrophobic contacts in the hydrophobic core of protein. Additionally, in vitro investigation of the cytotoxicity of free DAC and DAC-β-casein complex in human breast cancer cell line MCF7 revealed the higher cytotoxic effect of DAC-β-casein complex.