Nitroxide Spin-Label Quenching of Fluorophore’s Triplet Stateas a Tool for Studying Diffusion Mediated Reactions in LipidMembranes

摘要

In this work, we introduce an approach to study bimolecularinteractions in model lipid bilayers and biologicalmembranes, which exploits the influence of membrane-associatedElectron Spin Resonance (ESR) labels on the fluorescencesignal of likewise membrane-bound fluorophoremarkers. It is shown how one can exploit the high detectionsensitivity of the fluorescence signal without loosing the abilityto follow low-frequency molecular interactions, takingplace on a time scale well beyond that of the fluorescencelifetimes. The approach utilizes triplet state monitoring byFluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS), whereby thefluctuations in a strong fluorescence signal is used to characterizetransition rates to and from the lowest triplet stateof the fluorophores, which take place on a time scale 3 to 6orders of magnitude slower than the fluorescence lifetimesof the fluorophores. FCS measurements were performed onthe dye Lissamine Rhodamine B (LRB) in aqueous solutionsand bound to a lipid in a liposome, and in the presence of differentlocal concentrations of the ESR label TEMPO. Bothin the aqueous solution and in the lipid membrane measurements,the measured relative changes in the singlet-triplettransitions rates were found to well reflect the collisionalfrequencies between the LRB and TEMPO molecules. Theproposed approach, allowing low-frequency interactionsto be monitored with a bright fluorescence signal offers abroad applicability, both in terms of read-out means, typesof molecular interactions that can be followed, and in whatenvironment these interactions can be measured. From thispoint of view, it can prove useful for a broad category ofmolecular interaction studies.