A novel lophine-based fluorescence probe and its binding to human serum albumin

• Lophine-based probe (DAMIP) shows strong fluorescence when it binds with albumin.
• The binding constant of DAPIM to albumin is 3.65 × 106 M−1.
• The primary binding site of DAPIM to HSA is site II at subdomain IIIA.
• DAPIM was successfully applied to the determination of albumin in human serum.

The binding of a lophine-based fluorescence probe, 4-[4-(4-dimethylaminophenyl)-5-phenyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl]benzoic acid methyl ester (DAPIM) with human serum albumin (HSA) was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy under physiological conditions. While DAPIM shows extreme low fluorescence in aqueous solution, DAPIM binding with HSA emits strong fluorescence at 510 nm. The binding constant and binding number determined by Scatchard plot was 3.65 × 106 M−1 and 1.07, respectively. Competitive binding between DAPIM and other ligands such as warfarin, valproic acid, diazepam and oleic acid, were also studied fluorometrically. The results indicated that the primary binding site of DAPIM to HSA is site II at subdomain IIIA. DAPIM can be a useful fluorescence probe for the characterization of drug-binding sites. In addition to the interaction study, because the fluorescence intensity of DAPIM increased in proportion to HSA concentration, its potential in HSA assay for serum sample was also evaluated.

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