Calorimetric and spectroscopic studies of the interaction between zidovudine and human serum albumin.

A quantitative analysis of the interaction between zidovudine (AZT) and human serum albumin (HSA) was achieved using Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) in combination with fluorescence and 1H NMR spectroscopy. ITC directly measure the heat during a biomolecular binding event and gave us thermodynamic parameters and the characteristic association constant. By fluorescence quenching, the binding parameters of AZT-HSA interaction was determined and location to binding site I of HSA was confirmed. Via T1 NMR selective relaxation time measurements the drug-protein binding extent was evaluated as dissociation constants Kd and the involvement of azido moiety of zidovudine in molecular complex formation was put in evidence. All three methods indicated a very weak binding interaction. The association constant determined by ITC (3.58×102M-1) is supported by fluorescence quenching data (2.74×102M-1). The thermodynamic signature indicates that at least hydrophobic and electrostatic type interactions played a main role in the binding process.

"Click" access to multilayer functionalized Au surface: A terpyridine patterning example.

This work is focused on self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) fabrication, using two types of Au surfaces, by subsequent attachment of different layers in order to develop a stable platform consisting of covalent multilayer functionalized gold surfaces. The key step in the construction of SAMs is the covalent linkage to the gold surface, via an amino-thiol derivative, of a cyclooctyne unit exhibiting strained triple bonds which react fast (catalysts are not needed) and quantitatively with organic azides and enable the introduction of various chemical functionalized entities on the gold surface. The versatility of the system is demonstrated by the reaction of the cyclooctyne decorated gold surface with an azide functionalized terpyridine followed by step by step complexation with Fe(II) and another terpyridine unit resulting into a multilayer covered gold surface. The Au surfaces were characterized by XPS to determine the chemical composition of the resulting SAMs. SPR was applied for real-time monitoring of the molecular interactions that occurred on the Au surface for each deposited layer. DPN was used to direct pattern the terpyridine-ink on a pre-functionalized AuIDE electrode. The AFM topology resulted from DPN and PEIS demonstrated metal-coordinating ligand of Fe(II)-Terpy.

Spectroscopic investigation of tolmetin interaction with human serum albumin.

The interaction of tolmetin (TOL) with human serum albumin (HSA) in physiological buffer solution (pH 7.4) was studied by fluorescence and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy at different temperatures, combined with time-resolved fluorescence measurements. The experimental results showed that there was a strong fluorescence quenching of HSA by tolmetin. Using the continuous variation method, a single class of binding sites for TOL on HSA was put in evidence. The binding constants Ka were calculated at different temperatures, using a nonlinear fit to the experimental data, and the thermodynamic parameters ΔH(0), ΔS(0) and ΔG(0) were given. The obtained thermodynamic signature suggests that at least van der Waals and electrostatic type interactions are present. Quenching efficiency calculations, based on steady state and time-resolved spectroscopy, indicate that both static and dynamic quenching mechanisms are present.

The artifactual nature of stavudine binding to human serum albumin. A fluorescence quenching and isothermal titration calorimetry study.

The interaction between stavudine, a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor and human serum albumin (HSA), was investigated by fluorescence quenching technique and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). A good linearity of albumin fluorescence quenching in the presence of stavudine was determined. Analyzing these data we obtained for the dissociation constant the value K(d)=(18.18 ± 0.46) × 10(-5)M. However, due to contradictory results obtained in ITC experiments, we checked the fluorescence quenching data for the inner-filter effect, the main confounding factor in the observed quenching. Based on the UV-vis absorption data we have corrected the observed fluorescence intensities and concluded, in accordance with ITC results, that stavudine binding to HSA is negligible and the observed quenching effect is entirely caused by a failure to correct for the inner-filter effect.

Aggregation of red blood cells in suspension: study by light-scattering technique at small angles.

Red blood cells (RBCs) in the presence of plasma proteins or other macromolecules have a tendency to form aggregates. Light-scattering technique was used to investigate the RBC aggregation process. A highly diluted suspension of RBCs was illuminated with a 632.8-nm HeNe laser. Angular-resolved measurements of light intensity scattered by an RBC suspension from a 200-microm thick optical glass cuvette during 10 min of their aggregation process were performed at 1 to 4 off-axis deg with a very high angular resolution, at hematocrits in the range of 3.5 x 10(-2) to 10(-1). The angular spreading of forward-scattered light at small angles during the RBC aggregation process was described in terms of a new, effective phase function model that has been used for fitting the experimental data. The aggregated RBCs' optical properties, such as effective scattering anisotropy and scattering cross section, were determined. The results were compared with prediction of Mie theory for equivolumetric spherical particles. The time dependence of the aggregates mean radius and of the mean number of cells per aggregate was also calculated. Last, the potential of the proposed technique (forward-scattering light technique) as a new quantitative investigation of cellular aggregation process was estimated.

High-resolution angle-resolved measurements of light scattered at small angles by red blood cells in suspension.

Red blood cells (RBCs) scatter light mainly in the forward direction, where the scattering phase function has a narrow peak. We performed an experimental investigation into the angular distribution of light scattered by blood in the small-angle domain. A highly diluted suspension of RBCs (hematocrits in the range 5 x 10(-5)-10(-2)) was illuminated with a He-Ne laser with 633 nm wavelength. We focused our research on two main topics: the scattering efficiency of the RBCs given by the mean scattering cross section and the scattering anisotropy obtained from the angular distribution of the scattered photons. The collimated beam transmission and the angular distribution of scattered light were measured and compared with the predictions of the effective phase function model. The RBCs' mean scattering cross section and scattering anisotropy were obtained by fitting of the experimental data.