Interaction of bovine serum albumin with starch nanoparticles prepared by TEMPO-mediated oxidation

The objective of this study was to elucidate the interaction of starch nanoparticles prepared through TEMPO oxidation (TEMPO-SNPs) with protein (bovine serum albumin) by various spectroscopic techniques and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The enhanced absorbance observed by UV spectra and the decrease in fluorescence spectroscopy of bovine serum albumin (BSA) induced by TEMPO-SNPs demonstrated the occurrence of an interaction between BSA and TEMPO-SNPs. The quenching constant was inversely correlated with temperature, showing that the quenching effect of TEMPO-SNPs was static quenching. Electrostatic force had a leading contribution to the binding roles of BSA on TEMPO-SNPs, which was confirmed by negative enthalpy change and positive entropy change. When interacting with TEMPO-SNPs at different concentrations, the content of the α-helix structure in BSA decreased and β-sheet and random coil structures increased, indicating that TEMPO-SNPs had an effect on the secondary conformation of BSA. Furthermore, TEM images suggested that nanoparticle-protein complexes were formed.