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Monitoring Membrane Hydration with 2-(Dimethylamino)-6-Acylnaphtalenes Fluorescent Probes

  • Chapter
Membrane Hydration

Part of the book series: Subcellular Biochemistry ((SCBI,volume 71))

Abstract

A family of polarity sensitive fluorescent probes (2-(dimethylamino)-6-acylnaphtalenes, i.e. LAURDAN, PRODAN, ACDAN) was introduced by Gregorio Weber in 1979, with the aim to monitor solvent relaxation phenomena on protein matrices. In the following years, however, PRODAN and particularly LAURDAN, were used to study membrane lateral structure and associated dynamics. Once incorporated into membranes, the (nanosecond) fluorescent decay of these probes is strongly affected by changes in the local polarity and relaxation dynamics of restricted water molecules existing at the membrane/water interface. For instance, when glycerophospholipid containing membranes undertake a solid ordered (gel) to liquid disordered phase transition the fluorescence emission maximum of these probes shift ~ 50 nm with a significant change in their fluorescence lifetime. Furthermore, the fluorescence parameters of LAURDAN and PRODAN are exquisitely sensitive to cholesterol effects, allowing interpretations that correlate changes in membrane packing with membrane hydration. Different membrane model systems as well as innate biological membranes have been studied with this family of probes allowing interesting comparative studies. This chapter presents a short historical overview about these fluorescent reporters, discusses on different models proposed to explain their sensitivity to membrane hydration, and includes relevant examples from experiments performed in artificial and biological membranes.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported in part by a grant from the Danish Research Council (12-124751).

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  1. Membrane Biophysics and Biophotonics Group/MEMPHYS-Center for Biomembrane Physics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, DK-5230, Odense M, Denmark

    Luis A. Bagatolli

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  1. Laboratorio de Biointerfases y Sistemas Biomimeticos; Centro de Investigacion y Transferencia de Santiago del Estero, Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, El Zanjón, Santiago del Estero, Argentina

    E. Anibal Disalvo

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Bagatolli, L.A. (2015). Monitoring Membrane Hydration with 2-(Dimethylamino)-6-Acylnaphtalenes Fluorescent Probes. In: Disalvo, E. (eds) Membrane Hydration. Subcellular Biochemistry, vol 71. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19060-0_5

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