College of Chemistry and Material Science, Guangxi Teachers Education University, Nanning 530001, PR China.
College of Chemistry and Material Science, Guangxi Teachers Education University, Nanning 530001, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, PR China.
J Hazard Mater. 2015 Mar 21;285:18-26. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.11.019. Epub 2014 Nov 20.
Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have attracted great attention in biological and biomedical applications due to their super properties, but their potential toxicity investigations are rarely involved. Since few studies have addressed whether GQDs could bind and alter the structure and function of human serum albumin (HSA), the molecular interaction between GQDs and HSA was systematically characterized by the combination of multispectroscopic and electrochemical approaches. GQDs could quench the intrinsic fluorescence of HSA via static mode. The competitive binding fluorescence assay revealed that the binding site of GQDs was site I of HSA. Some thermodynamic parameters suggested that GQDs interacted with HSA mainly through van der Waals interactions and hydrogen bonding interactions, and protonation might also participate in the process. As further revealed by FT-IR spectroscopy and circular dichroism technique, GQDs could cause the global and local conformational change of HSA, which illustrated the potential toxicity of GQDs that resulted in the structural damage of HSA. Electrochemical techniques demonstrated the complex formation between GQDs and HSA. Our results offered insights into the binding mechanism of GQDs with HSA and provided important information for possible toxicity risk of GQDs to human health.
石墨烯量子点(GQDs)因其超性能而在生物和生物医学应用中引起了极大的关注,但很少涉及它们的潜在毒性研究。由于很少有研究探讨 GQDs 是否可以结合并改变人血清白蛋白(HSA)的结构和功能,因此本研究通过多光谱和电化学方法相结合系统地研究了 GQDs 与 HSA 之间的分子相互作用。GQDs 可以通过静态模式猝灭 HSA 的固有荧光。竞争结合荧光测定表明,GQDs 的结合位点是 HSA 的 I 位点。一些热力学参数表明,GQDs 与 HSA 主要通过范德华力和氢键相互作用相互作用,质子化也可能参与该过程。进一步通过傅里叶变换红外光谱和圆二色性技术揭示,GQDs 可以引起 HSA 的整体和局部构象变化,这说明了 GQDs 的潜在毒性导致 HSA 的结构损伤。电化学技术证明了 GQDs 与 HSA 之间的复合物形成。我们的结果深入了解了 GQDs 与 HSA 的结合机制,并为 GQDs 对人类健康的可能毒性风险提供了重要信息。