Probing the Binding of Scutellarin to Human Serum Albumin by Circular Dichroism, Fluorescence Spectroscopy, FTIR, and Molecular Modeling Method

The binding of scutellarin with human serum albumin (HSA) was investigated at four temperatures, 296, 303, 310, and 318 K, by fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and molecular modeling study at pH 7.40. The binding parameters were determined by Scatchard's procedure, which are approximately consistent with the results of Stern−Volmer equation. The thermodynamic parameters were calculated according to the dependence of enthalpy change on the temperature as follows: ΔH° is a small negative value (−8.55 kJ/mol), whereas ΔS° is a positive value (65.15 J/mol K). Quenching of the fluorescence HSA in the presence of scutellarin was observed. Data obtained by fluorescence spectroscopy and CD experiment, FT-IR experiment, and molecular modeling method suggested that scutellarin can strongly bind to the HSA and the primary binding site of scutellarin is located in site I of HSA. It is considered that scutellarin binds to site I (subdomain II) mainly by a hydrophobic interaction and there are hydrogen bond interactions between the scutellarin and the residues Arg222 and Arg257.