The fidelity of response by 1-[4-(trimethylammonio)phenyl]-6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene in time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy measurements on lipid vesicles

Time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy measurements on 1⁰-[4-(tri-methylammonio)phenyl]-6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (TMA-DPH) molecules in lipid vesicles of palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholine (POPC), PC extracted from egg yolk (EggPC), dioleoyl-PC (DOPC), dilinoleoyl-PC (DLPC), phosphatidylglycerol extracted from egg yolk (EggPG), dioleoyl-PG (DOPG), sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG) and digalactosyl-DG (DGDG) with and without cholesterol are presented. The observed intensity decay curves are analyzed simultaneously in terms of the Brownian rotational diffusion model. The analysis thus yields the isotropic fluorescence decay, the initial anisotropy r (0), the order parameters P ₂ and P ₂ as well as the diffusion coefficient of the long molecular axis. It is shown that increasing unsaturation in the acyl chains of the PC lipids results in an increase in the rotational diffusion rates of the probes and a decrease in the order parameter P ₂. However, the value of P ₂ remains unchanged. The corresponding orientational distribution function of the probes is bimodal, with fractions lying preferentially parallel and perpendicular to the local vesicle surface. Surprisingly, the fraction of probe molecules lying with their long axes parallel to the bilayer surface increases with increasing unsaturation with a concomitant narrowing in the width of the distribution of the fraction lying perpendicular to it. As expected, cholesterol is found to increase the order parameters in all the systems and to suppress the tendency of the molecules to lie parallel to the bilayer surface. Furthermore, the rotational diffusion coefficients of the probes is found to increase in all the systems except for DLPC. Interestingly, the effects of unsaturation on the reorientational dynamics of TMA-DPH molecules in the vesicle systems are opposite to those found in the corresponding planar multibilayers (Deinum et al. 1988), whereas the same cholesterol effect is observed for the two systems. Nevertheless, the TMA-DPH molecules exhibit higher diffusion coefficients in the vesicle than in the planar multibilayer systems. In addition, a unimodal distribution of the probe molecules is found in the multibilayer systems. The differences between the two systems are ascribed to the differences in the radius of curvature and the hydration of the bilayers. Lastly we rationalize the bimodal distribution of the TMA-DPH molecules in the vesicles in terms of their observed partition between the lipid and aqueous phases.Abbreviations DPH 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene - TMA-DPH 1-[4-(trimethylammonio)-phenyl]-6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene - POPC palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholine - EggPC PC extracted from egg yolk - DOPC dioleoyl-PC - DLPC dilinoleoyl-PC - EggPG phosphatidylglycerol extracted from egg yolk - DOPG dioleoyl-PG - SQDG sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol - DGDG di-galactosyl-DG - HPTLC high performance thin layer chromatography     

Influence of cholesterol on equilibrium and dynamic bilayer structure of unsaturated acyl chain phosphatidylcholine vesicles as determined from higher order analysis of fluorescence anisotropy decay

The influence of cholesterol on equilibrium and dynamic bilayer structure in minimally to highly unsaturated phosphatidylcholine (PC) vesicles has been examined by characterization of the dynamic fluorescence properties of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) and 1-[4-(trimethylammonio)phenyl]-6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (TMA-DPH). Large, unilamellar egg PC, palmitoyloleoyl-PC (POPC), dioleoyl-PC (DOPC), palmitoylarachidonoyl-PC (PAPC), and palmitoyldocosahexaenoyl-PC (P-22:6-PC) vesicles containing no cholesterol or approximately 15 or 30 mol % cholesterol have been examined. Equilibrium and dynamic DPH orientational properties were analyzed according to an orthogonal, bimodal orientational distribution function [Straume, M., & Litman, B.J. (1987) Biochemistry (preceding paper in this issue)]. The same mathematical formalism was applied to TMA-DPH except that probe orientational probability was permitted only in the distribution peak aligned parallel to the bilayer normal. TMA-DPH fluorescence lifetimes were consistently increased by incorporation of cholesterol into these vesicles. Greater acyl chain unsaturation and increasing temperature each promoted reduction of lifetimes in the presence or absence of cholesterol. DPH lifetimes were much less sensitive than those of TMA-DPH to changes in composition or temperature. This behavior is consistent with reduced water penetrability into liquid-crystalline bilayers as cholesterol content is increased and as acyl chain unsaturation and temperature are reduced. Cholesterol also induces substantial equilibrium ordering of the bilayer both at the hydrophobic core and at the bilayer-water interface. DPH orientational distributions were shifted in favor of alignment parallel to the acyl side chains. The distributions of both probes were narrowed in response to incorporation of cholesterol.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Phosphatidic acid affects structural organization of phosphatidylcholine liposomes. A study of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) and 1-(4-trimethylammonium-phenyl)-6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (TMA-DPH) fluorescence decay using distributional analysis

The fluorescence decay of 1-(4-trimethylammonium-phenyl)-6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (TMA-DPH) was used to study micro-heterogeneity of 1,2-dimyristoyl-3-sn-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) liposomes and to characterize the effect of phosphatidic acid on the correlation between fluorescence microheterogeneity and membrane permeability. The fluorescence decay, measured using multifrequency phase fluorometry, has been analyzed either by using a model of discrete exponential components or a model of continuous distribution of lifetime values. Both analyses have shown that TMA-DPH decay is characterized by two components: a long one of about 9 ns and a short one of about 5 ns. In the gel phase, at variance with previous DPH studies, the short component was associated with a large fractional intensity. The distributional analysis showed changes of lifetime values and width in correspondence to the calorimetric transitions. The presence of egg phosphatidic acid increased both long lifetime values and distributional width. The use of TMA-DPH as a probe to evaluate membrane heterogeneity using the distributional width is discussed. The effect of phosphatidic acid on the membrane surface and in the hydrophobic core has been related to its structural properties and to its role in water penetration.     

Bidirectional transbilayer lipid movement in human platelets as vizualized by the fluorescent membrane probe 1-[4-(trimethylammonio)phenyl]-6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene

Transbilayer movement of the fluorescent membrane probe TMA-DPH [1-[4-(trimethylammonio)phenyl]-6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene] in the plasma membrane of human platelets was investigated by measuring fluorescence intensity and fluorescence decay. Labeling of unstimulated platelets by TMA-DPH results in a rapid increase in fluorescence intensity, leveling off within 1 min. Dilution of platelets into buffer without TMA-DPH leads to an almost complete rapid efflux of TMA-DPH, indicating that TMA-DPH labels only the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane. Transbilayer movement of the fluorescent probe in unstimulated platelets could be observed upon prolonged incubation and occurs with a t1/2 of 60-90 min. Stimulation of platelets with thrombin directly after the initial rapid uptake of TMA-DPH results in a fast increase in membrane-bound TMA-DPH, fully explained by the increase in plasma membrane caused by secretion of intracellular storage organelles. No indications for increased transbilayer movement of the probe were found, since dilution of thrombin-stimulated TMA-DPH-labeled platelets into buffer without TMA-DPH indicated no uptake of TMA-DPH by intracellular membranes. In contrast to thrombin, stimulation of TMA-DPH-labeled platelets with the Ca2(+)-ionophore ionomycin results in a much larger increase in fluorescence intensity. This process is accompanied by labeling of intracellular membranes as indicated by incomplete efflux of TMA-DPH after dilution of the stimulated platelets. Thus, stimulation of platelets by ionomycin gives rise to rapid and massive inward movement of TMA-DPH (t1/2 approximately 10-12 s). Prolonged incubation of platelets in the absence of any stimulus allows labeling of the total lipid pool, including intracellular membranes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)