Abstract
We describe the theory and experimental application of fluorescence depolarization measurements on small molecules bound to oriented phospholipid bilayers. The results yield insight into both the orientation and the rotational motion of fluorophores in a membrane environment. To accomplish this the angular distribution of polarized fluorescence intensities is measured on a membrane preparation consisting of stacked phospholipid bilayers oriented in a known coordinate system. Considerably more information is available from this data than in comparable solution phase measurements. Three parameters are derived from the data: the rate of rotational diffusion and the second and fourth degree order parameters. These latter two parameters provide an assessment of the average distribution of fluorophore orientation in the membrane bilayer. The data have been carefully examined for systematic experimental artifacts and new protocols are presented which help to eliminate errors that have not been amply treated in the past. We present data for two types of fluorescent molecules: (a) conventional membrane probes like diphenylhexatriene, perylene and anthroyloxy fatty acids; and (b) the anticancer agent adriamycin and several congeneric anthracycline antibiotics. The results show that the hydrocarbon core of membranes is more rigid than previously thought, particularly above the thermal phase transition temperature. We also show that the orientation of small molecules is sensitive to both the phospholipid composition and to the interaction of specific functional groups with the lipid bilayer. The results are discussed in terms of energetic models describing the general patterns for the binding of small molecules to biological membranes.