AUTHOR=Dai Jiahui , Chen Chao , Yin Man , Li Huixing , Li Wenbo , Zhang Zhaowei , Wang Qian , Du Zhongyu , Xu Xiangyu , Wang Yunfei 

TITLE=Interactions between gold nanoparticles with different morphologies and human serum albumin

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2023.1273388

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2023.1273388

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=Abstr act Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with three different morphologies, such as, nanospheres (AuNSs), nanorods (AuNRs), and nanoflowers (AuNFs)) were synthesized via a seeding method and their characteristic absorption peaks detected using ultraviolet-visible their characteristic absorption peaks were detected using ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption spectroscopy, Telectron microscopy (TEM), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Zeta potential measurements, circular dichroism (CD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to study the interactions between them and human serum albumin (HSA). By comparing the thermodynamic parameters and quenching mechanism of the three materials, similarities and differences were determined in their interactions with HSA. The results showed that with an increase in the concentration of the AuNPs with the three different morphologies, the UV-vis absorption peak intensity of the mixed solution increased, but its fluorescence intensity was quenched. This indicates that the three types of AuNPs interact with HSA, and that the interactions between them represent a static quenching process, which is consistent with the conclusions derived from three-dimensional fluorescence experiments. Through variable-temperature fluorescence experiments, the binding constants, number of binding sites, and thermodynamic parameters of the interactions between the three types of AuNPs and HSA were determined. The Gibbs free energy changes were <0, indicating that the reactions of the three types of AuNPs with HSA are spontaneous, resulting in associated matter. Binding constant measurements indicated that the strongest binding took place between the AuNFs and HSA. In addition, the results of fluorescence, CD spectroscopy, and FTIR showed that three different shapes of AuNPs can induce conformational changes in HSA and reduce the α-helix content. Among them, AuNFs have the smallest ability to induce conformational change s.Keywor ds: gGold nanospheres, gGold nanorods, gGold nanoflowers, hHuman serum albumin, fFluorescence quenching, tThermodynamic parameters 1. Intr oduction Nanoscale metal materials were first successfully developed in the mid-1980s. With the development of science and technology, a variety of nanomaterials, such as nano-biomedical materials and nano-magnetic materials, have attracted a great amount of research attention [1] .