Interaction of 14C-labelled amphotericin B derivatives with human erythrocytes: relationship between binding and induced K+ leak

Four 14C-labelled amphotericin B (Am B) derivatives with different net electric charges were examined: zwitterionic N-fructosyl Am B, positively charged N-fructosyl Am B methyl ester, negatively charged N-acetyl Am B and neutral N-acetyl Am B methyl ester. The binding of these four derivatives to human red cells and their octanol-water partition coefficients were measured. Simple partitioning between red cells and buffer was found for the four compounds, regardless of concentration, within a range of 10(-8) and 10(-4) M. This indicates the absence of cooperativity and saturability of binding at least in this concentration range. The constant partition coefficients were found to be three to five times higher for the two methyl ester derivatives than for the two non-esterified compounds. All partition coefficients were proportional to those found for the octanol-water system. Efficiency in inducing K+ leak from red cells was measured during the binding experiments. Despite the higher partition coefficients of the two methyl ester derivatives, they were found to have much lower ionophoric efficiency than the two non-esterified compounds. These results are discussed in terms of the mechanism of permeability pathway formation by polyene antibiotics.