Binding of an anticancer drug, axitinib to human serum albumin: Fluorescence quenching and molecular docking study.

Binding characteristics of a promising anticancer drug, axitinib (AXT) to human serum albumin (HSA), the major transport protein in human blood circulation, were studied using fluorescence, UV-vis absorption and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy as well as molecular docking analysis. A gradual decrease in the Stern-Volmer quenching constant with increasing temperature revealed the static mode of the protein fluorescence quenching upon AXT addition, thus confirmed AXT-HSA complex formation. This was also confirmed from alteration in the UV-vis spectrum of HSA upon AXT addition.