Nanoparticles present a wide spectrum of chemical, biological, and physical properties which result in their usage in many branches of science. We present an investigation of the interaction between human serum albumin and hybrid gold-tannic acid nanoparticles synthesized via a chemical reduction method. The results obtained demonstrate that tannic acid can be a very effective reducing and stabilizing agent and allows monodisperse hybrid gold nanomaterial to be obtained. The synthesized hybrid gold-tannic acid nanoparticles strongly interact with human serum albumin by formation of protein-corona complexes. The strength of the interaction with albumin depends on the number of tannic acid molecules on the surface of the nanoparticles and the presence of citric acid. Nanoparticles of large size and rich in tannic acid react more strongly with the protein [K SV = (8.00 ± 0.2) × 105 M-1] compared with smaller ones [K SV = (6.83 ± 0.5) × 104 M-1] containing citric acid and low concentration of tannic acid.
Keywords: Fluorescence spectroscopy; Gold nanoparticles; Human serum albumin; Hybrid nanoparticles; Tannic acid.