Spectroscopic studies of the interaction between tetra-substituted aluminum phthalocyanines and bovine serum albumin

Serum albumin, the most abundant plasma protein in mammalian blood, shows significant effects on delivery and therapeutic efficacy of drugs, therefore, the investigation of binding interaction between serum albumin and drugs is vital and necessary. In the present study, the binding interaction of two aluminum (III) phthalocyanine (AlPc) derivatives, tetrasulfonate- and tetra-(p-sulfoazophenyl-4-aminosulfonyl)-substituted AlPc (complexes 1 and 2), with bovine serum albumin (BSA) was investigated by UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. Adding BSA to the Pc complexes in water caused remarkable changes in the Q-band of the Pc complexes, indicating an altered aggregation behavior. When titrating these AlPcs with BSA in PBS, the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA was significantly quenched through a static quenching process. The binding of Pc complexes to BSA might change its conformation, evidenced by the red shift of maximum emission wavelength. Furthermore, binding constants and binding sites were obtained and binding ability between the Pc complexes and BSA was assessed. Our results suggest that complexes 1 and 2 readily interact with BSA whereas the latter shows more affinity (with higher binding constant value) to BSA, implying the stretched amphiphilic substituents of complex 2 may contribute to their transportation in the blood.