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Binding of berberine to bovine serum albumin: spectroscopic approach

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Abstract

Fluorescence spectroscopy in combination with UV–vis absorption spectroscopy was employed to investigate the binding of an important traditional medicinal herb berberine to bovine serum albumin (BSA) under the physiological conditions. In the mechanism discussion, it was proved that the fluorescence quenching of BSA by berberine is a result of the formation of berberine–BSA complex. Fluorescence quenching constants were determined using the Stern–Volmer equation and Scatchard equation to provide a measure of the binding affinity between berberine and BSA. The results of thermodynamic parameters ΔG, ΔH, ΔS at different temperatures indicate that the electrostatic interactions play a major role for berberine–BSA association. Site marker competitive experiments indicated that the binding of berberine to BSA primarily took place in site II. Furthermore, the Effect of supramolecules to berberine–BSA system, and the distance r between donor (BSA) and acceptor (berberine) was obtained according to fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET).

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 20803019, 20873096, and 20921062), the Research Foundation of Education Bureau of Hubei Province, China (Grant No. Q20082205), and Hubei Normal University Foundation, China (Grant No. 2007F10).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hubei Key Laboratory of Pollutant Analysis and Reuse Technology, Department of Chemistry, Hubei Normal University, Huangshi, 435002, People’s Republic of China

    Yan-Jun Hu & Yu Ou-Yang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, People’s Republic of China

    Yan-Jun Hu & Yi Liu

  3. Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Biology and Medicine (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, People’s Republic of China

    Yan-Jun Hu & Yi Liu

  4. China Military Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, 302 Hospital of PLA, Beijing, 100039, People’s Republic of China

    Chun-Mei Dai & Xiao-He Xiao

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  1. Yan-Jun Hu
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  2. Yu Ou-Yang
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  3. Chun-Mei Dai
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  4. Yi Liu
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Correspondence to Yi Liu.

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Hu, YJ., Ou-Yang, Y., Dai, CM. et al. Binding of berberine to bovine serum albumin: spectroscopic approach. Mol Biol Rep 37, 3827–3832 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-010-0038-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-010-0038-x

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