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Perspectives on Fluorescence pp 197–216Cite as

The Use of 6-Acyl-2-(Dimethylamino)Naphthalenes as Relaxation Probes of Biological Environments

Part of the Springer Series on Fluorescence book series (SS FLUOR,volume 17)

Abstract

As Gregorio Weber anticipated in his seminal 1979 article, 6-acyl-2-(dimethylamino)naphthalene probes became excellent tools to study nanosecond relaxation processes of biological systems. Examples are the use of PRODAN (or DANCA) to study relaxation of specific protein matrixes, or LAURDAN (as well as PRODAN) extensively used to study the extent of water dipolar relaxation processes in biological membranes. In this chapter a novel application for this family of molecules is presented and discussed. Specifically, we show how these fluorescent probes can be used to monitor intracellular water dipolar relaxation in living cells displaying oscillatory metabolism. Our experimental results show a strong coupling between metabolism and intracellular water dynamics, challenging the view that water in the interior of cells exists mostly as a medium whose global properties are comparable to the properties of dilute solutions. The observed results can be very well interpreted in light of the association-induction hypothesis postulated by Gilbert Ling in 1962.

Keywords

  • ATP
  • Fluorescent probes
  • Glycolysis
  • Molecular crowding
  • Oscillatory metabolism
  • Water dipolar relaxation

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Abbreviations

ACDAN:

6-Acetyl-2-dimethylamine-naphthalene

DAN:

2-(Dimethylamino)-6-acylnaphtalenes

GP:

Generalized Polarization function

LAURDAN:

6-Dodecanoyl-2-dimethylamine-naphthalene

PRODAN:

6-Propionyl-2-dimethylamine-naphthalene

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by a grant from the Danish Research Council (FNU, 12-124751 0602-02507B).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Membrane Biophysics and Biophotonics Group/MEMPHYS – Center for Biomembrane Physics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, DK-5230, Odense, Denmark

    Luis A. Bagatolli & Roberto P. Stock

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  1. Luis A. Bagatolli
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  2. Roberto P. Stock
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Correspondence to Luis A. Bagatolli or Roberto P. Stock .

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  1. John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

    David M. Jameson

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Bagatolli, L.A., Stock, R.P. (2016). The Use of 6-Acyl-2-(Dimethylamino)Naphthalenes as Relaxation Probes of Biological Environments. In: Jameson, D. (eds) Perspectives on Fluorescence. Springer Series on Fluorescence, vol 17. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/4243_2016_7

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