Effects of albumin-bound nitrosyl iron complex with thiosulfate ligands on lipid peroxidation and activities of mitochondrial enzymes in vitro

Nitric oxide (NO) mediates diverse physiological processes in living organisms. Small molecular NO donors usually lack stability and have a short half-life in human tissues, limiting the therapeutic application. The anionic tetranitrosyl iron complex with thiosulfate ligands (TNIC) is one of the most promising NO donors. This study shows that bovine serum albumin (BSA) can effectively stabilize the TNIC complex under aerobic (physiological) conditions, which contributes to its prolonged action as NO donor. Our results demonstrated that TNIC-BSA inhibits formation of TBARS - standard biomarker for the lipid peroxidation induced oxidative stress. Also, it was found that TNIC-BSA inhibits the catalytic activity of mitochondrial membrane-bound enzymes: cytochrome c oxidase and monoamine oxidase A. Together, these results demonstrate that, stabilization of TNIC with BSA opens up the possibility of its practical application in chemotherapy of socially significant diseases.