Quenching of tryptophan fluorescence of bovine serum albumin under the effect of ions of heavy metals

The interaction of heavy metals with bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been studied using data of quenching of intrinsic fluorescence of the protein by the ions of the heavy metals. Under the assumption of static quenching with formation of nonfluorescent complexes of fluorophores of BSA with heavy metals, conclusions have been drawn on the peculiarities of binding of the heavy metals to the protein. The values of the Stern-Volmer constants of association and those of the constants of BSA binding to the heavy metals decrease in the order Cu(II) > Pb(II) > Cd(II). It has been experimentally found that the copper ions have greater capacity to bind to the protein with the formation of the nonfluorescent complexes, which results in a significant decrease in the fluorescence intensity of the protein.