Spectroscopic investigation of the anticancer alkaloid piperlongumine binding to human serum albumin from the viewpoint of drug delivery.

Piperlongumine (PL) is a very promising natural agent with a high potential for cancer treatment. To overcome the poor water solubility of PL, there is a need to develop a novel water-soluble formulation in which PL is non-covalently bound to human serum albumin (HSA). PL binding to HSA was studied by various spectroscopic techniques under simulated physiological conditions. Spectroscopic evidence showed that the interaction of PL with HSA could form a PL-HSA complex. The binding constant (Ka ) values increased with increasing temperature, and a similar dependence was observed for the number of binding sites (n) values. The number of PL molecules bound to HSA reached 8.1 when the temperature was raised to 308 K. Thermodynamic calculation results suggested that the binding reaction occurred spontaneously but was an entropy-driven process, and hydrophobic forces played a major role in stabilizing the complex. Furthermore, PL binding induced conformational and microenvironmental changes in HSA. Displacement studies indicated that PL and warfarin had separate binding regions in site I. Therefore, it would be possible to develop a novel water-soluble formulation involving PL and HSA. This study may provide some valuable information in terms of improving the poor water solubility of PL.

The increased binding affinity of curcumin with human serum albumin in the presence of rutin and baicalin: A potential for drug delivery system.

The impacts of rutin and baicalin on the interaction of curcumin (CU) with human serum albumin (HSA) were investigated by fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopies under imitated physiological conditions. The results showed that the fluorescence quenching of HSA by CU was a simultaneous static and dynamic quenching process, irrespective of the presence or absence of flavonoids. The binding constants between CU and HSA in the absence and presence of rutin and baicalin were 2.268×10(5)M(-1), 3.062×10(5)M(-1), and 3.271×10(5)M(-1), indicating that the binding affinity was increased in the case of two flavonoids. Furthermore, the binding distance determined according to Förster's theory was decreased in the presence of flavonoids. Combined with the fact that flavonoids and CU have the same binding site (site I), it can be concluded that they may simultaneously bind in different regions in site I, and formed a ternary complex of flavonoid-HSA-CU. Meanwhile, the results of fluorescence quenching, CD and three-dimensional fluorescence spectra revealed that flavonoids further strengthened the microenvironmental and conformational changes of HSA induced by CU binding. Therefore, it is possible to develop a novel complex involving CU, flavonoid and HSA for CU delivery. The work may provide some valuable information in terms of improving the poor bioavailabiliy of CU.

Multi-spectroscopic methods investigation on the interaction of tenoxicam with DNA.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) show chemopreventive and chemosuppressive effects on various cancer cell lines. They exert anticancer activities by inhibiting both at the protein level and/or at the transcription level. Thus, in this paper, the interaction between tenoxicam (TXM) and calf thymus DNA (ct-DNA) was investigated by UV-visible light, fluorescence, viscosity experiments and DNA melting studies. The results showed that TXM could bind to ct-DNA in the groove binding mode. The binding constants were 7.67 × 10(3) and 5.48 × 10(3) M(-1) at 293 and 300 K, respectively. Furthermore, the calculated thermodynamic parameters suggested that hydrogen bonds or van der Waals force might play an important role in the binding of TXM to ct-DNA. The obtained results should give new insight into the pharmacological activity of TXM.

Protein damage and reactive oxygen species generation induced by the synergistic effects of ultrasound and methylene blue.

The sonodynamic damage to protein in the presence of methylene blue (MB) and the various influencing factors including ultrasonic irradiation time and MB concentration on the damage of protein were studied by fluorescence and absorption spectra. In addition, the mechanisms of the synergistic effects of ultrasound and MB were studied by oxidation-extraction photometry with several reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers. The results indicated that the damage of protein induced by the synergistic effects of ultrasound and MB were more serious than those that ultrasound or MB alone was applied. The damage of protein could be mainly due to the generation of ROS. The damage degree of protein increased with the increase of ultrasonic irradiation time and MB concentration because of the increased quantities of ROS generation. Both (1)O2 and ·OH were the important mediators of the ultrasound-inducing protein damage in the presence of MB.

Synthesis of three rimantadine schiff bases and their biological effects on serum albumin.

Three new rimantadine Schiff bases (RSBs) were prepared, and then the interaction of RSBs with bovine serum albumin (BSA) was investigated using fluorescence, synchronous fluorescence, UV-vis absorption spectroscopy under physiological conditions. The results showed that the three RSBs effectively quenched the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA via static quenching. Binding constant (K a), number of binding sites (n), and the binding distance (r) between three RSBs and BSA were calculated by Stern-Volmer equation and Förster's theory in this study. According to the results of displacement experiments of site probes, it was considered that the binding sites were located in hydrophobic cavities in sub-domains IIA of BSA. What is more, synchronous fluorescence studies indicated that the hydrophobicity around tryptophan residues was increased with the addition of rimantadine-o-vanillin (ROV) and rimantadine-4-methoxy-salicylaldehyde (RMS), while there was no apparent change with the addition of rimantadine-salicylaldehyde (RS).

The influence of ultrasound on the fluoroquinolones antibacterial activity.

In this work, the antibacterial effect of fluoroquinolones (FQs) upon Escherichia coli (E.coli) was measured with and without application of 40 kHz ultrasound (US) stimulation. The research results demonstrated that simultaneous application of 40 kHz US apparently enhanced the antibacterial effectiveness of FQs. That is, the synergistic effect was observed and the bacterial viability was reduced when FQs and US were combined. In addition, various influencing factors, such as FQs drug concentration, US irradiation time and solution temperature, on the inhibition of E.coli were also investigated. The antibacterial activity was enhanced apparently with increasing of FQs drug concentration, US irradiation time and solution temperature. Furthermore, we discussed preliminarily the mechanism of US enhanced antibacterial activity. Results show that US can activate FQs to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) indeed, which are mainly determined as superoxide radical anion (·O(2)(-)) and hydroxyl radical (·OH).

Spectroscopic investigation on protein damage by ciprofloxacin under ultrasonic irradiation.

In recent years, sonodynamic activities of many drugs have attracted more and more attention of researchers. The correlative study will promote the development of sonodynamic therapy (SDT) in anti-tumor treatment. In this work, bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as a protein model to investigate the intensifying effects of ciprofloxacin (CPFX) ultrasonically induced protein damage by UV-vis and fluorescence spectra. Meanwhile, the conformation of BSA is changed upon the addition of CPFX and metal ions under ultrasound (US) so that the damaging site of BSA is considered. Various influencing factors, such as US irradiation time, metal ions, solution temperature and ionic strength, on the ultrasonically induced BSA damage are discussed. It was showed that CPFX could enhance ultrasonically induced BSA damage. The damage degree of BSA was aggravated with the increasing of US irradiation time, solution temperature, ionic strength as well as the addition of metal ions. Furthermore, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) in reaction system were detected by oxidation-extraction photometry (OEP). Experimental results also showed that US could activate CPFX to produce ROS, which were mainly determined as superoxide radical anion (.O2-) and hydroxyl radical (.OH).

Synthesis and characterization of polymer eight-coordinate (enH2)[YIII(pdta)(H2O)](2)·10H2O as well as the interaction of [YIII(pdta)(H2O)]2(2-) with BSA.

The eight-coordinate (enH2)[YIII(pdta)(H2O)](2)·10H2O (en=ethylenediamine and H4pdta=1,3-propylenediamine-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid) was synthesized, meanwhile its molecular and crystal structures were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction technology. The interaction between [Y(III)(pdta)(H2O)]2(2-) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was investigated by UV-vis and fluorescence spectra. The results indicate that [YIII(pdta)(H2O)]2(2-) quenched effectively the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA via a static quenching process with the binding constant (Ka) of the order of 10(4). Meanwhile, the binding and damaging sites to BSA molecules were also estimated by synchronous fluorescence. Results indicate that the hydrophobic environments around Trp and Tyr residues were all slightly changed. The thermodynamic parameters (ΔG=-25.20 kJ mol(-1), ΔH=-26.57 kJ mol(-1) and ΔS=-4.58 J mol(-1) K(-1)) showed that the reaction was spontaneous and exothermic. What is more, both ΔH and ΔS were negative values indicated that hydrogen bond and Van der Waals forces were the predominant intermolecular forces between [YIII(pdta)(H2O)]2(2-) and BSA.

Spectrometric studies on the sonodynamic damage of protein in the presence of levofloxacin.

Taking bovine serum albumin (BSA) as typical molecules, the sonodynamic damage of protein in the presence of Levofloxacin (LVFX) and its mechanism were studied by fluorescence and UV-vis spectra. Various influencing factors such as ultrasonic irradiation time, pH value, ionic strength and solution temperature on the damage of BSA were also discussed. The results showed that ultrasound can enhance the damage of LVFX on BSA. The damage degree of BSA was aggravated with the increase of ultrasonic irradiation time, solution temperature and ionic strength, whereas decreased with the increase of solution pH value. Furthermore, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) in reaction system were studied by oxidation and extraction photometry. Experimental results showed that the amounts of superoxide anion radical (·O(2)(-)) and hydroxyl radical (·OH) were significantly more than that of singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)) in the presence of LVFX under ultrasonic irradiation.