Spectroscopic probes of the interactions of the dye Stains-all with deoxycholate and cholate

Bile salt induced solubilization of methylene blue: Study on methylene blue fluorescence properties and molecular mechanics calculation

Methylene blue (MB) is a hydrophobic drug molecule, having importance both as a staining reagent and pharmaceutical agent. MB is strongly fluorescent, with an emission peak at 686 nm (λ_ex 665 nm). In the study, the possibility of MB as an extrinsic fluorophore to study the micellization behavior of bile salts (BSs) was carried out. Since BSs are drug delivery systems, the solubilization of hydrophobic MB drug molecule by BSs was achieved and the nature of association of MB with BS media, namely sodium cholate (NaC) and sodium deoxycholate (NaDC) was evaluated. Change in the photophysical properties of MB is monitored through fluorescence intensity and fluorescence anisotropy at emission peak, 686 nm of MB. Molecular mechanics calculations were carried out to evaluate the MB–BS association. The estimated heat of formation, ΔH_f values are –625.19 kcal/mol for MB–NaC and –757.48 kcal/mol for MB–NaDC. The photophysical study also revealed that MB reports the step-wise aggregation pattern of BSs media, as an extrinsic fluorescence probe.

Fluorescence of amphotericin B-deoxycholate (fungizone) monomers and aggregates and the effect of heat-treatment

Fluorescence excitation and emission spectra are reported for the polyene macrolide antifungal agent Amphotericin B formulated as micellar dispersion Fungizone (FZ) and its modified counterpart heat-treated Fungizone. The addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate or sodium deoxycholate surfactant to modulate the aggregation state of Amphotericin B confirms that the monomer and dimer states have different fluorescence spectra. Energy transfer from excited dimer to monomer is observed. Both FZ and heat-treated FZ (HTFZ) show expected S1 --> S0 fluorescence emission as well as anti-Kasha fluorescence emission from the S2 state. The excitation and S1 --> S0 emission spectra of HTFZ are similar to those of FZ, while the S2 --> S0 fluorescence differs in intensity between them. The variation in the rate constant for internal conversion from S2 to S1 as the surfactant concentration is increased differs for FZ and HTFZ; we propose that this may form a new basis for examining the super-aggregated character of AmB preparations. FZ and HTFZ have a similar stability to disaggregation by added sodium dodecyl sulfate surfactant. These findings provide the groundwork for future fluorescence characterization of FZ or HTFZ interactions with cell membranes.