title: A Rapid and Quantitative Fluorimetric Method for Protein-Targeting Small Molecule Drug Screening.
abstract: We demonstrate a new drug screening method for determining the binding affinity of small drug molecules to a target protein by forming fluorescent gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) within the drug-loaded protein, based on the differential fluorescence signal emitted by the Au NCs. Albumin proteins such as human serum albumin (HSA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) are selected as the model proteins. Four small molecular drugs (e.g., ibuprofen, warfarin, phenytoin, and sulfanilamide) of different binding affinities to the albumin proteins are tested. It was found that the formation rate of fluorescent Au NCs inside the drug loaded albumin protein under denaturing conditions (i.e., 60 °C or in the presence of urea) is slower than that formed in the pristine protein (without drugs). Moreover, the fluorescent intensity of the as-formed NCs is found to be inversely correlated to the binding affinities of these drugs to the albumin proteins. Particularly, the higher the drug-protein binding affinity, the slower the rate of Au NCs formation, and thus a lower fluorescence intensity of the resultant Au NCs is observed. The fluorescence intensity of the resultant Au NCs therefore provides a simple measure of the relative binding strength of different drugs tested. This method is also extendable to measure the specific drug-protein binding constant (KD) by simply varying the drug content preloaded in the protein at a fixed protein concentration. The measured results match well with the values obtained using other prestige but more complicated methods.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
authors.forename: Siu Yee
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: New
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University.
authors.forename: Jiaxian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
authors.forename: Xiaodi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR); tanyn@imre.a-star.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Yen Nee
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / Q000379:methods*; D005470:Fluorometry / Q000379:methods*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D011485:Protein Binding; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000378:metabolism; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D012709:Serum Albumin; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries; D006046:Gold