Evaluation of the binding interaction between bovine serum albumin and dimethyl fumarate, an anti-inflammatory drug by multispectroscopic methods

•The interaction of BSA with DMF is obtained by multi-spectroscopic techniques.•Dynamic quenching mechanism leads to decrease in the fluorescence intensity of BSA.•Dimethyl fumarate most likely binds to the hydrophobic pocket of BSA located in subdomain IIA.•The conformation of BSA is changed upon binding with DMF.

The information of the quenching reaction of bovine serum albumin with dimethyl fumarate is obtained by multi-spectroscopic methods. The number of binding sites, n and binding constants, KA were determined at different temperatures. The effect of increasing temperature on Stern–Volmer quenching constants (KD) indicates that a dynamic quenching mechanism is involved in the interaction. The analysis of thermodynamic quantities namely, ∆H° and ∆S° suggested hydrophobic forces playing a major role in the interaction between dimethyl fumarate and bovine serum albumin. The binding site of dimethyl fumarate on bovine serum albumin was determined by displacement studies, using the site probes viz., warfarin, ibuprofen and digitoxin. The determination of magnitude of the distance of approach for molecular interactions between dimethyl fumarate and bovine serum albumin is calculated according to the theory of Förster energy transfer. The CD, 3D fluorescence spectra, synchronous fluorescence measurements and FT-IR spectral results were indicative of the change in secondary structure of the protein. The influence of some of the metal ions on the binding interaction was also studied.

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