Study of the conjugation reaction between bovine serum albumin and gentamicin with Ponceau S as fluorescence probe

Ponceau S (PS) can quench the fluorescence of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in aqueous solution of pH 7.40. The static fluorescence-quenching process between BSA and PS was confirmed and the binding constant, the number of binding sites, and thermodynamic data for the interaction between BSA and PS were obtained. The results showed that the number of binding sites was 1 and that electrostatic attraction was important in the binding of BSA to PS. On the basis of the theory of Forster resonance energy transfer, the binding distance (r < 7 nm) between PS and BSA was obtained. Site marker competitive experiments indicated that binding of PS to BSA primarily occurred in sub-domain IIA (site I). There was no obvious fluorescence intensity change on combining BSA and gentamicin (GM), so the conjugation reaction between BSA and GM cannot be studied by spectroscopy. It was observed that when GM was added to the BSA-PS system, the relative fluorescence intensity of the system recovered gradually with increasing concentration of GM, which showed there was a conjugation reaction between GM and BSA and that binding of GM to BSA primarily occurred in sub-domain IIA (site I).