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Accumulation and Interaction of Hypericin in Low‐density Lipoprotein— A Photophysical Study
Author(s) -
Mukherjee Prasun,
Adhikary Ramkrishna,
Halder Mintu,
Petrich Jacob W.,
Miskovsky Pavol
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
photochemistry and photobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.818
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1751-1097
pISSN - 0031-8655
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-1097.2007.00234.x
Subject(s) - hypericin , chemistry , photosensitizer , quenching (fluorescence) , fluorescence , photochemistry , lipoprotein , biophysics , photodynamic therapy , macromolecule , biochemistry , cholesterol , organic chemistry , pharmacology , biology , physics , quantum mechanics
The accumulation and interaction of hypericin with the biologically important macromolecule, low‐density lipoprotein (LDL), is investigated using various steady‐state and time‐resolved fluorescence measurements. It is concluded that multiple hypericins can penetrate considerably deeply into the LDL molecule. Up to ∼20 nonaggregated hypericin molecules can enter LDL; but upon increasing the hypericin concentration, the fluorescence lifetime of hypericin decreases drastically, suggesting most likely the self‐quenching of aggregated hypericin. There is also evidence of energy transfer from tryptophans of the constituent protein, apoB‐100, to hypericin in LDL. The results demonstrate the ability of LDL to solubilize hypericin (a known photosensitizer) in nonaggregated form, which has implications for the construction of drug delivery systems.