Steady-state fluorescence quenching for detecting acyl chain interdigitation in phosphatidylcholine vesicles

Ethanol- and trifluoroethanol-induced changes in phase states of DPPC membranes. Prodan emission-excitation fluorescence spectroscopy supported by PARAFAC analysis

It has been shown that Prodan emission-excitation fluorescence spectroscopy supported by Parallel Factor (PARAFAC) analysis is a fast, simple and sensitive method used in the study of the phase transition from the noninterdigitated gel (L_β') state to the interdigitated gel (L_βI) phase, triggered by ethanol and 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE) molecules in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholines (DPPC) membranes. The relative contribution of lipid phases with spectral characteristics of each pure phase component has been presented as a function of an increase in alcohol concentration. It has been stated that both alcohol molecules can induce a formation of the L_βI phase, but TFE is over six times stronger inducer of the interdigitated phase in DPPC membranes than ethanol molecules. Moreover, in the TFE-mixed DPPC membranes, the transition from the L_β' to L_βI phase is accompanied by a formation of the fluid phase, which most probably serves as a boundary phase between the L_β' and L_βI regions. Contrary to the three phase-state model of TFE-mixed DPPC membranes, in ethanol-mixed DPPC membranes only the two phase-state model has been detected.

Effects of ethanol on the organization of phosphocholine lipid bilayers

We have investigated the consequences of the addition of ethanol to aqueous solutions containing 100 nm diameter phosphocholine unilamellar vesicles. We have studied the effect of ethanol addition on both gel phase and fluid phase phospholipid bilayers of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC), using time-resolved fluorescence measurements of perylene incorporated into the vesicles. We observe an increase in the perylene rotational diffusion time constants for ethanol concentrations of ca. 0.6 M in both the gel phase (289 K) and the fluid phase (303 K), indicating a change in the bilayer interacyl chain spacing and/or organization. While the change in rotational diffusion behavior of perylene is seen for both phospholipid phases, the details of the change in chromophore dynamics are not the same for the two phases, likely due to the differing extents of disorder in the phospholipid acyl chain region at the two temperatures. These data provide insight into the effects of ethanol on the local environment of the probe in both gel phase and fluid phase lipid bilayers.

Revisiting lipid – general anesthetic interactions (I): Thinned domain formation in supported planar bilayers induced by halothane and ethanol

A long-standing question in anesthesia is that of the molecular mechanism. Do anesthetics target proteins or change membrane properties or both? We used temperature-dependent magnetic A/C mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study interaction of the volatile anesthetics halothane and ethanol with model membranes made from supported planar bilayers (SPBs) of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-3-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC), dioleoyltrimethylammonium propane (DOTAP), or 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-3-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC). We found that the incorporation of halothane or ethanol induces structural changes in the bilayer. These compounds cause thickness reduction in Lα bilayers (either globally or in domains) and the formation of domains with reduced thickness in Lβ phase bilayers. We propose that an anesthetic-induced increased area per lipid drives local chain disorder, thus promoting local phase change. The characteristics of SPBs with halothane or ethanol incorporated were compared with characteristics of the Lα and Lβ phases of anesthetic-free SPBs.Key words: atomic force microscopy, anesthesia, lipid bilayer domains, phase transition

Control of a redox reaction on lipid bilayer surfaces by membrane dipole potential

Nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-yl (NBD) group is a widely used, environment-sensitive fluorescent probe. The negatively charged dithionite rapidly reduces the accessible NBD-labeled lipids in liposomes to their corresponding nonfluorescent derivatives. In this study both the phospholipid headgroup and acyl chain NBD-labeled L-alpha-1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-[N-(4-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazole)-ethanolamine] (DPPN) and 1-acyl-2-[12-[(7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-yl)amino]dodecanoyl]-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (NBD-PC), respectively, were employed. The correlation of both the rate coefficient k(1) of the redox reaction and the fluorescence properties of the two probes with the membrane dipole potential Psi in fluid dipalmitoylglycerophosphocholine (DPPC) liposomes is demonstrated. When Psi of the bilayer was varied (decreased by phloretin or increased by 6-ketocholestanol), the value for k1 decreased for both DPPN and NBD-PC with increasing Psi. For both fluorophores a positive correlation to Psi was evident for the relative fluorescence emission intensity (RFI, normalized to the emission of the fluorophore in a DPPC matrix). The relative changes in emission intensity as a function of Psi were approximately equal for both NBD derivatives. Changes similar to those caused by phloretin were seen when dihexadecylglycerophosphocholine (DHPC) was added to DPPC liposomes, in keeping with the lower dipole potential for the former lipid compound compared with DPPC. These effects of Psi on NBD fluorescence should be taken into account when interpreting data acquired using NBD-labeled lipids as fluorescent probes.