Textures of BSA films with iron and copper ions

Abstract

Analysis of the patterns on the dried films of biological fluids is a promising avenue of medical diagnostics and biosensors development. The aim of this work was to study the effect of iron and copper ions on the quantitative characteristics of textures and zigzag patterns (Z-structures) observed on the films of saline solutions of bovine serum albumin (BSA). In the experiment, 0.5 mg/ml BSA, 20 mM/l NaCl, 0.05 mM/l CuCl₂ and 0.2÷0.05 mM/l FeCl₃ were used. For textures, the area and fractal dimension were estimated, and for zigzag patterns, area and the specific length of the Z-structures were estimated. The effect of iron and copper ions on the geometrical parameters of Z-structures was analyzed. Spatial distributions of the fractal dimension of texture and the specific length of Z-structures were analyzed. It was shown that using the product of all four parameters increases the sensitivity of the method compared to using only one of the parameters. The method can be used in pharmacology and medical biochemistry for screening drugs and chemical compounds by their degree of influence on biopolymers.