INCORPORATION OF SOLUTES TO BILAYERS EVALUATED BY FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY TECHNIQUES

In this work a new procedure is proposed to evaluate partition constan ts of solutes in vesicles containing probes whose fluorescence polariz ation and/or generalized polarization are sensible to the environment fluidity. Partition constants of the additives are determined from the effect that they produce upon the properties of the probe fluorescenc e. This methodology, that can be applied to any solute that modifies m embrane properties, is employed in the present work to evaluate the pa rtition constants of three alkanols in large unilamellar vesicles of d ioctadecyldimethylammonium chloride (DODAC). The same procedure can be applied to obtain partition constants in other lipidic aggregates suc h as micelles or biological membranes.