Fluorescence Spectroscopic Studies on the Interaction of Oleanolic Acid and its Triterpenoid Saponins Derivatives with Two Serum Albumins

The interaction of oleanolic acid (OA) and its glycosylated derivatives (LL-2 and LL-4) with human and bovine serum albumins were investigated using the methods of fluorescence spectroscopy. The spectroscopic analysis of the fluorescence quenching that occurs when OA and its derivatives interact with serum albumin indicates that these quenching constants are inversely correlated with temperature and the quenching process involves static interactions. The binding affinity of OA and OA-derived compounds to bovine serum albumin (BSA) and human serum albumin (HSA) follow the trend LL-4 > LL-2 > OA, suggesting that glycosylation of OA can facilitate its binding to serum albumins. Additionally, the binding affinity of these compounds to HSA is stronger than it is to BSA. The calculated thermodynamic parameters suggest that hydrophobic interactions dominate these interaction processes. We also found that only a single type of binding site exists for OA and its derivatives to HSA and BSA. Synchronous fluorescence results indicate that the binding of OA, LL-2 and LL-4 to BSA and HSA can lead to the conformational changes around the tryptophan residues of the two serum albumins. These results provided valuable clues to the pharmacokinetics and the pharmacologic activities of OA and its types of triterpenoid saponins derivatives.