Objective: Since structural changes of adsorbed protein are necessary for cellular uptake of nanoparticles (NPs) it is of prime importance to know about structural changes of bovine serum albumin (BSA) when it interacts with CuO NPs–a potential new antitumor drug.Methods: CuO NPs prepared by sol-gel technique were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and tunneling electron microscope (TEM) techniques. The conformational changes induced by CuO NPs on BSA were studied by various spectroscopic techniques such as steady state and time-resolved fluorescence measurements. The changes in fluorescence emission parameters such as fluorescence intensity, fluorescence emission maximum and lifetimes of fluorescent residues in BSA were studied.Results: XRD analysis showed the average particle size as 32 nm. The TEM micrograph showed particles of different size varying from 10 to 45 nm. Fluorescence quenching was confirmed due to a decrease in fluorescence intensity of CuO NPs–BSA complex. The analysis of lifetime measurements indicated BSA contained two tryptophan (trp) residues that fluoresced in different environments. Static quenching mechanism was confirmed by time-resolved measurements when BSA interacted with CuO NPs.Conclusion: Minor structural changes of BSA protein were observed during the interaction studies
