Time‐Dependent Fluorescence Intensity and Depolarization of Diphenlhexatriene in Micellar Complexes of Apolipoprotein C‐I and Dimyristoylglycerophosphocholine

The lipohilic fluorescent probe diphenylhexatriene was used to probe the lipid order and dynamics in apolipoprotein C‐I dimyristoylglycerophosphocholine (Myr 2 Gro‐ P ‐Cho) complexes. These complexes contain on the average 25 mol Myr 2 Gro‐ P ‐Cho/mol of apolipoprotein C‐I, have a molecular weight around 2, and appear as discoidal, stacked particles by negative‐stain electron microscopy. Steady‐state fluorescence polarization of diphenylhexatriene as a function of temperature gives a broadened and shifted phase transition for Myr 2 Gro‐ P ‐Cho from the gel to liquid‐crystalline state, with a mid‐point around 27°C. Time‐dependent fluorescence intensity and anisotropy measurements of the diphenylhexatriene probe at 15°C and 35°C give fluorescence decay curves which can best be fit by two exponential functions, in each case. The fluorescence lifetimes and their fractional amplitudes approach the corresponding parameters in Myr 2 Gro‐ P ‐Cho vesicles and suggest insignificant effects of the protein on the microenvironment and conformations of the probe. The rotational correlation times and their fractional anisotropies indicate similar local motions of the probe in complexes and in vesicles, but reveal a significant ordering effect of the protein at both temperatures. The overall complex rotation at 157deg;C has a correlation time of 136 ± 13 ns, consistent with the size (∼ 200 kDa) and shape (disc ∼ 5 × 15 nm) of the particle.