Premium
A high diffusion coefficient for coenzyme Q 10 might be related to a folded structure
Author(s) -
Di Bernardo Salvatore,
Fato Romana,
Casadio Rita,
Fariselli Piero,
Lenaz Giorgio
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(98)00313-5
Subject(s) - diffusion , chemistry , pyrene , quenching (fluorescence) , range (aeronautics) , thermodynamics , cofactor , volume (thermodynamics) , fluorescence , analytical chemistry (journal) , crystallography , organic chemistry , materials science , physics , quantum mechanics , composite material , enzyme
We measured the lateral diffusion of different coenzyme Q homologues and analogues in model lipid vesicles using the fluorescence collisional quenching technique with pyrene derivatives and found diffusion coefficients in the range of 10 −6 cm 2 /s. Theoretical diffusion coefficients for these highly hydrophobic components were calculated according to the free volume theory. An important parameter in the free volume theory is the relative dimension between diffusant and solvent: a molecular dynamics computer simulation of the coenzymes yielded their most probable geometries and volumes and revealed surprisingly similar sizes of the short and long homologues, due to a folded structure of the isoprenoid chain in the latter, with a length for coenzyme Q 10 of 21 Å. Using this information we were able to calculate diffusion coefficients in the range of 10 −6 cm 2 /s, in good agreement with those found experimentally.