Investigation on the interaction of Rutin with serum albumins: Insights from spectroscopic and molecular docking techniques

The binding interaction of Rutin, a flavonoid, with model transport proteins, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and human serum albumin (HSA), were investigated using different spectroscopic techniques, such as fluorescence, time-resolved single photon counting (TCSPC) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy as well as molecular docking method. The emission studies revealed that the fluorescence quenching of BSA/HSA by Rutin occurred through a simultaneous static and dynamic quenching process, and we have evaluated both the quenching constants individually. The binding constants of Rutin-BSA and Rutin-HSA system were found to be 2.14 x 10(6) M-1 and 2.36 x 10(6) M-1 at 298 K respectively, which were quite high. Further, influence of some biologically significant metal ions (Ca2+, Zn2+ and Mg2+) on binding of Rutin to BSA and HSA were also investigated. Thermodynamic parameters justified the involvement of hydrogen bonding and weak van der Waals forces in the interaction of Rutin with both BSA and HSA. Further a site-marker competitive experiment was performed to evaluate Rutin binding site in the albumins. Additionally, the CD spectra of BSA and HSA revealed that the secondary structure of the proteins was perturbed in the presence of Rutin. Finally protein-ligand docking studies have also been performed to determine the probable location of the ligand molecule.