The distribution of a selection of cationic fluorescent dyes can be used to measure the membrane potential of individual cells with a microfluorometer. The essential attributes of these dyes include membrane permeability, low membrane binding, spectral properties which are insensitive to environment, and, of course, strong fluorescence. A series of dyes were screened on HeLa cells for their ability to meet these criteria and several commercially available dyes were found to be satisfactory. In addition, two new dyes were synthesized for this work by esterification of tetramethyl rhodamine. The analysis of the measured fluorescent intensities requires correction for fluorescence collected from outside the plane of focus of the cell and for nonpotentiometric binding of the dye. The measurements and analysis were performed on three different cell types for which there exists a body of literature on membrane potential; the potentials determined in this work were always within the range of literature values. The rhodamine esters are nontoxic, highly fluorescent dyes which do not form aggregates or display binding-dependent changes in fluorescence efficiency. Thus, their reversible accumulation is quantitatively related to the contrast between intracellular and extracellular fluorescence and allows membrane potentials in individual cells to be continuously monitored.

Photosensitization of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells by deuteroporphyrin (DP) is shown to be possible in the presence of the polycationic agent polymyxin nonapeptide (PMNP). Previous studies established complete resistance of Gram-negative bacteria to the photodynamic effects of porphyrins. The present results show that combined treatment of E. coli or P. aeruginosa cultures with DP and PMNP inhibit cell growth and viability. No antibacterial activity of PMNP alone could be demonstrated and cell viability remained unchanged. Spectroscopically, PMNP was found to bind DP, a mechanism which probably assists its penetration into the cell's membranes. Insertion of DP into the cells was monitored by the characteristic fluorescence band of bound DP at 622 nm. Binding times were 5-40 min and the extent of binding increased with decreasing the pH from 8.5 to 6.5. DP binding constants, as well as the concentrations of PMNP which were required for maximal effect on the various Gram-negative bacteria, were determined fluorometrically. By the treatment of DP, PMNP and light the growth of E. coli and P. aeruginosa cultures was stopped and the viability of the culture was dramatically reduced. Within 60 min of treatment the survival fraction of E. coli culture was 9 x 10(-6) and that of P. aeruginosa was 5.2 x 10(-4). Electron microscopy depicted ultrastructural alterations in the Gram-negative cells treated by DP and PMNP. The completion of cell division was inhibited and the chromosomal domain was altered markedly.

Photosensitized biological processes, as applied in photodynamic therapy, are based on light-triggered generation of molecular singlet oxygen by a membrane-residing sensitizer. Most of the sensitizers currently used are hydrophobic or amphiphilic porphyrins and their analogs. The possible activity of the short-lived singlet oxygen is limited to the time it is diffusing in the membrane, before it emerges into the aqueous environment. In this paper we demonstrate the enhancement of the photosensitization process that is obtained by newly synthesized protoporphyrin derivatives, which insert their tetrapyrrole chromophore deeper into the lipid bilayer of liposomes. The insertion was measured by fluorescence quenching by iodide and the photosensitization efficiency was measured with 9,10-dimethylanthracene, a fluorescent chemical target for singlet oxygen. We also show that when the bilayer undergoes a melting phase transition, or when it is fluidized by benzyl alcohol, the sensitization efficiency decreases because of the enhanced diffusion of singlet oxygen. The addition of cholesterol or of dimyristoyl phosphatydilcholine to the bilayer moves the porphyrin deeper into the bilayer; however, the ensuing effect on the sensitization efficiency is different in these two cases. These results could possibly define an additional criterion for the choice and design of hydrophobic, membrane-bound photosensitizers.

The spectroscopy and photophysics of the photosensitizer hypericin when in homogeneous solutions and when bound to liposomes were studied. Hypericin was found to partition efficiently into DMPC liposomes, with a binding constant of 58 (mg lipid/mL)-1. In these liposomes the singlet oxygen production quantum yield was 0.43 +/- 0.09. To determine the deactivation constant of singlet oxygen in lipid bilayers for the first time, we calculated extrapolated values from its quenching by DMPC and lecithin in homogeneous solutions and obtained decay times of 36.4 and 12.2 microseconds, respectively. We also measured the quenching of singlet oxygen, sensitized by hypericin in DMPC liposomes, by NaN3, diphenyl isobenzofuran and H2O:D2O mixtures and explained the results on the basis of singlet oxygen diffusing rapidly out of the lipid bilayer into the aqueous medium. The observed temperature effect on the lifetime of singlet oxygen of about 50% over a 15 degrees C range in liposome suspension contrasts with a 3% change in a homogeneous solution in 1-nonanol and is explained by the temperature effect on the diffusion out of the liposome. A strong pH effect was observed, indicating that the deprotonated species formed above about pH 10 is a much weaker photosensitizer of singlet oxygen than the native, protonated species.

Photosensitization by porphyrins and other tetrapyrrole chromophores is used in biology and medicine to kill cells. This light-triggered generation of singlet oxygen is used to eradicate cancer cells in a process dubbed "photodynamic therapy," or PDT. Most photosensitizers are of amphiphilic character and they partition into cellular lipid membranes. The photodamage that they inflict to the host cell is mainly localized in membrane proteins. This photosensitized damage must occur in competition with the rapid diffusion of singlet oxygen through the lipid phase and its escape into the aqueous phase. In this article we show that the extent of damage can be modulated by employing modified hemato- and protoporphyrins, which have alkyl spacers of varying lengths between the tetrapyrrole ring and the carboxylate groups that are anchored at the lipid/water interface. The chromophore part of the molecule, and the point of generation of singlet oxygen, is thus located at a deeper position in the bilayer. The photosensitization efficiency was measured with 9,10-dimethylanthracene, a fluorescent chemical target for singlet oxygen. The vertical insertion of the sensitizers was assessed by two fluorescence-quenching techniques: by iodide ions that come from the aqueous phase; and by spin-probe-labeled phospholipids, that are incorporated into the bilayer, using the parallax method. These methods also show that temperature has a small effect on the depth when the membrane is in the liquid phase. However, when the bilayer undergoes a phase transition to the solid gel phase, the porphyrins are extruded toward the water interface as the temperature is lowered. These results, together with a previous publication in this journal, represent a unique and precedental case where the vertical location of a small molecule in a membrane has an effect on its membranal activity.

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We tested correlations between lipophilicity parameters and the partitioning of sensitizers into membranes. For this purpose we investigated 17 porphyrins and two chlorins having various chemical structures. Some of these compounds possess an amphiphilic structure (including hematoporphyrin, deuteroporphyrin, mesoporphyrin, chlorin e6 and more). The others are very symmetrical sensitizers [meso-tetra(N-methyl-4-pyridyl)porphyrin, tetra-benzoporphyrin, coproporphyrin I dihydrochloride (CP), meso-tetra(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (TCP) and meso-tetra(m-hydroxyphenyl)chlorin]. Our investigation also included two series of hematoporphyrins and protoporphyrins with varying lengths of alkylcarboxylate side groups. The partitioning of these compounds between the bulk aqueous phase and liposomes was studied by fluorescence methods, and a liposome-binding constant, Kb, was obtained. It was found that CP and TCP do not incorporate into the lipid phase at pH 7.3. An n-octanol-water partition coefficient (log P) and a distribution coefficient (log D) were predicted with a modeling software. The values of log D were also obtained experimentally. We found that for the studied molecules, the predicted log D correlated well with the measured values. The values of log D as well as log P, in turn, did not correlate nicely, for the whole group of studied compounds, with the binding constants to liposomes. However, in the case of porphyrins that share a similar structure, the Kb showed good linear correlation with both log P and log D. For the series of hematoporphyrins and protoporphyrins with different lengths of alkylcarboxyl groups, it was shown that prolongation of this group caused an increase in the lipophilicity and the liposome-binding constant. This effect is more pronounced for the proto- than for the hematoporphyrin series. The results highlight the possible use, as well as limitations, of lipophilicity parameters for the prediction of membrane binding.

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