Solvent Relaxation in Phospholipid Bilayers: Principles and Recent Applications (original) (raw)
Related papers
ABA-C 15 : A New Dye for Probing Solvent Relaxation in Phospholipid Bilayers
Langmuir, 2002
We synthesized and studied N-palmitoyl-3-aminobenzanthrone (ABA-C-15), which we proved to be an advantageous new fluorescent phospholipid membrane label. While the absorption of ABA-C-15 in protic solvents shows negative solvatochromism, its fluorescence emission is substantially red-shifted when the polarity of the solvent is increased. ABA-C15 is excitable by lasers emitting in the range between :390 and 190 nm; it exhibits reasonable quantum yields in protic solvents and binds with high affinity to small unilamellar phospholipid vesicles. Absorption, steady state fluorescence, and solvent relaxation data indicate that the aminobenzanthrone chromophore is located in the headgroup region of phospholipid bilayers in the liquid crystalline state of small unilamellar vesicles. The solvent relaxation kinetics probed by ABA-C-15 in the liquid crystalline state is characterized by three solvent relaxation times in the order of 0.05. 0.2, and 1.5 ns, respectively. We observed that the relative contribution of the 0.05 ns component and the overall Stokes shift became larger with increasing difference between the experimental temperature and the main phase transition temperature; this suggests that the chromophore becomes more accessible by water molecules. In the gel phase, a component faster than 30 ps significantly contributes to the solvent relaxation kinetics. However, the solvent relaxation on the nanosecond time seat(., appears to be slower than in the liquid crystalline phase. The shape and time evolution of the time-resolved emission spectra suggest that two distinct microenvironments of the dye might be responsible for the atypical solvent relaxation characteristics in the gel phase.
On What Time Scale Does Solvent Relaxation in Phospholipid Bilayers Happen?
Langmuir, 2002
Time-resolved emission spectra of seven fluorescent probes in egg-phosphatidylcholine bilayers have been investigated. About 90% of the solvent relaxation monitored by the headgroup labels Prodan, Laurdan, and Patman and by the backbone label 2-AS can be captured with an instrument providing subnanosecond time resolution. In comparison to 2-AS, the transient red-shift of 9-AS is characterized by a larger contribution of a picosecond process and by slower nanosecond dynamics, The major contribution to solvent relaxation probed by C(17)DiFU and Dauda is faster than the ultimate time resolution of the experiment; those chromophores appear to be located within the external interface of the bilayer.
Chemistry and Physics of Lipids, 2007
The analysis of time-dependent fluorescence shifts of the bilayer probe 6-hexadecanoyl-2-(((2-(trimethylammonium)ethyl) methyl)amino)naphthalene chloride (Patman) offers valuable information on the hydration and dynamics of phospholipid headgroups. Quenching studies on vesicles composed of four phosphatidylcholines with different hydrocarbon chains (18:1c9/18:1c9, DOPC; 16:0/18:1c9, POPC; 18:1c9/16:0, OPPC; 18:1c6/18:1c6, PC 6) show that the chromophore of Patman is defined located at the level of the sn-1 ester-group in the phospholipid, which is invariant to the hydrocarbon chain. The so-called solvent relaxation (SR) approach as well as solid-state 2 H NMR reveals that DOPC and PC 6 are more hydrated than POPC and OPPC. A strong dependence of SR kinetics on the position of double bond in the investigated fatty acid chains was observed. Apparently, the closer the double bond is located to the hydrated sn-1 ester-group, the more mobile this group becomes. This work demonstrates that the SR approach can report mobility changes within phospholipid bilayers with a remarkable molecular resolution.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes, 2004
The penetration of water into the hydrophobic interior leads to polarity and hydration profiles across lipid membranes which are fundamental in the maintenance of membrane architecture as well as in transport and insertion processes into the membrane. The present paper is an original attempt to evaluate simultaneously polarity and hydration properties of lipid bilayers by a fluorescence approach. We applied two 3-hydroxyflavone probes anchored in lipid bilayers at a relatively precise depth through their attached ammonium groups. They are present in two forms: either in H-bond-free form displaying a two-band emission due to an excited state intramolecular proton transfer reaction (ESIPT), or in H-bonded form displaying a single-band emission with no ESIPT. The individual emission profiles of these forms were obtained by deconvolution of the probes' fluorescence spectra. The polarity of the probe surrounding the bilayer was estimated from the two-band spectra of the H-bond-free form, while the local hydration was estimated from the relative contribution of the two forms. Our results confirm that by increasing the lipid order (phase transition from fluid to gel phase, addition of cholesterol or decrease in the lipid unsaturation), the polarity and to a lesser extent, the hydration of the bilayers decrease simultaneously. In contrast, when fluidity (i.e. lipid order) is kept invariant, increase of temperature and of bilayer curvature leads to a higher bilayer hydration with no effect on the polarity. Furthermore, no correlation was found between dipole potential and the hydration of the bilayers.
Excited State Proton Transfer and Solvent Relaxation of a 3-Hydroxyflavone Probe in Lipid Bilayers
The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2008
The photophysics of a ratiometric fluorescent probe, N-[[4′-N,N-diethylamino-3-hydroxy-6-flavonyl]methyl]-N-methyl-N-(3-sulfopropyl)-1-dodecanaminium, inner salt (F2N12S), incorporated into phospholipid unilamellar vesicles is presented. The reconstructed time-resolved emission spectra (TRES) unravels a unique feature in the photophysics of this probe. TRES exhibit signatures of both an excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) and a dynamic Stokes shift associated with solvent relaxation in the lipid bilayer. The ESIPT is fast, being characterized by a risetime of ∼30-40 ps that provides an equilibrium to be established between the excited normal (N*) and the ESIPT tautomer (T*) on a time scale of 100 ps. On the other hand, the solvent relaxation displays a bimodal decay kinetics with an average relaxation time of ∼1 ns. The observed slow solvent relaxation dynamics likely embodies a response of nonspecific dipolar solvation coupled with formation of probe-water H-bonds as well as the relocation of the fluorophore in the lipid bilayer. Taking into account that ESIPT and solvent relaxation are governed by different physicochemical properties of the probe microenvironment, the present study provides a physical background for the multiparametric sensing of lipid bilayers using ESIPT based probes.
Headgroup Hydration and Mobility of DOTAP/DOPC Bilayers: A Fluorescence Solvent Relaxation Study
Langmuir, 2006
The biophysical properties of liposome surfaces are critical for interactions between lipid aggregates and macromolecules. Liposomes formed from cationic lipids, commonly used to deliver genes into cells in vitro and in vivo, are an example of such a system. We apply the fluorescence solvent relaxation technique to study the structure and dynamics of fully hydrated liquid crystalline lipid bilayers composed of mixtures of cationic dioleoyltrimethylammoniumpropane (DOTAP) and neutral dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC). Using three different naphthalene derivatives as fluorescent dyes (Patman, Laurdan and Prodan) allowed different parts of the headgroup region to be probed. Wavelength-dependent parallax quenching measurements resulted in the precise determination of Laurdan and Patman locations within the DOPC bilayer. Acrylamide quenching experiments were used to examine DOTAPinduced dye relocalization. The nonmonotonic dependence of dipolar relaxation kinetics (occurring exclusively on the nanosecond time scale) on DOTAP content in the membrane was found to exhibit a maximum mean solvent relaxation time at 30 mol % of DOTAP. Up to 30 mol %, addition of DOTAP does not influence the amount of bound water at the level of the sn 1 carbonyls, but leads to an increased packing of phospholipid headgroups. Above this concentration, elevated lipid bilayer water penetration was observed.
Biophysical Journal, 1994
The effect of cholesterol on the gel, the liquid-crystalline, and mixed phospholipid phases has been studied using the fluorescence properties of 2-dimethylamino-6-lauroyinaphthalene (Laurdan). Laurdan sensitivity to the polarity and to the dynamics of its environment reveals that cholesterol affects phospholipid bilayers in the gel phase by expelling water and by increasing the amount of dipolar relaxation. In the liquid-crystalline phase, the effect of cholesterol is of a reduction of both water concentration and amount of dipolar relaxation. Detailed studies of Laurdan excitation and emission spectral contours as a function of cholesterol concentration show that there are some cholesterol concentrations at which Laurdan spectral properties changes discontinuously. These peculiar cholesterol concentrations are in agreement with recent observations of other workers showing the formation of local order in the liquid-crystalline phase of phospholipids upon addition of phospholipid derivatives of pyrene. A local organization of phospholipids around cholesterol molecule seems to be produced by the presence of peculiar concentrations of cholesterol itself. This local organization is stable enough to be observed during the excited state lifetime of Laurdan of approximately 5-6 ns.
Chemistry and Physics of Lipids, 2005
Solvent relaxation (SR) in 1,2-dioleoyl-palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) unilamellar vesicles of different size was probed by 6-hexadecanoyl-2-(((2-(trimethylammonium)ethyl)methyl)amino)naphthalene chloride (Patman), 6-propionyl-2-dimethylaminonaphthalene (Prodan) and 4-[(n-dodecylthio)methyl]-7-(N,N-dimethylamino)-coumarin (DTMAC). Patman probes the amount and mobility of the bound water molecules located at the carbonyl region of the bilayer. Membrane curvature significantly accelerates the solvent relaxation process, but does not influence the total Stokes shift, showing that membrane curvature increases the mobility, without affecting the amount of water molecules present in the headgroup region. This pattern was also verified for other phosphatidylcholines. Prodan is located in the phosphate region of the bilayer and probes a more polar, mobile and heterogeneous environment than Patman. The influence of membrane curvature on SR probed by Prodan is similar, however, less pronounced compared to Patman. DTMAC (first time used in SR) shows a broad distribution of locations along the z-axis. A substantial amount of the coumarin chromophores face bulk water. No effect of curvature on SR probed by DTMAC is detectable.
Biophysical Chemistry, 1985
Molecular relaxation fluorescence methods were applied to analyze the nature and characteristic times of motions of amphiphilic molecules absorbed in the polar region of a phospholipid bilayer. The fluorescence probes 2-toluidinonaphthalene-6-sulfonate and I-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate in egg phosphatidylcholine vesicles were studied. The methods of edge excitation fluorescence red shifts, nanosecond time-resolved spectroscopy, fluorescence quenching by hydrophilic and hydrophobic quenchers and emission wavelength dependence of polarization were used. The structural (dipolar) relaxation is shown to be a very rapid (subnanosecond) process. The observed nanosecond phenomena are related to translational movement of the chromophore itself towards a more polar environment and its rotation. The polar surface area of the phospholipid membrane appears to be a highly mobile liquid-like system.