Photophysics of the interaction between a fluorescein derivative and Ficoll

Paredes, J. M., Crovetto, L., Orte, A., Lopez, S. G., Talavera, E. M. and Alvarez-Pez, J. M. (2011) Photophysics of the interaction between a fluorescein derivative and Ficoll. Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 115(46), pp. 13242-13250. (doi: 10.1021/jp204666j) (PMID:21974784)

Abstract

Ficoll has been widely used as a crowding agent to mimic intracellular media because it is believed to be noninteracting and is composed of mixed sizes such that smaller and larger diffusing solutes can be studied. Due to the interest that the fluorescent dye 9-[1-(2-methyl-4-methoxyphenyl)]-6-hydroxy-3H-xanthen-3-one (TG-II) as a fluorometric probe of phosphate ions in intracellular media could generate, we describe the spectral characteristics of the system TG-II-Ficoll in aqueous solution by means of absorption spectroscopy, steady-state fluorescence, time-resolved fluorescence, time-resolved emission spectroscopy, and fluorescence lifetime correlation spectroscopy. The spectral characteristics found are consistent with the formation of an adsorption complex on the surface of Ficoll, probably due to hydrogen bonding between TG-II and Ficoll. In addition, the diffusion coefficient calculated for the association was similar to the diffusion coefficient previously recovered for Ficoll in the same experimental conditions. Therefore, our overall data clearly demonstrate that Ficoll is not an inert crowding agent when in the presence of fluorescein derivative dyes

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Lopez, Dr Sergio
• Authors: Paredes, J. M., Crovetto, L., Orte, A., Lopez, S. G., Talavera, E. M., and Alvarez-Pez, J. M.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Chemistry
• Journal Name: Journal of Physical Chemistry A
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• ISSN: 1089-5639
• ISSN (Online): 1520-5215
• Published Online: 05 October 2011