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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Localization and interactions of melatonin in dry cholesterol/lecithin mixed reversed micelles used as cell membrane models

Mirella FerrugiaVincenzo Turco LiveriAngela RuggirelloFelice FilizzolaDavid BongiornoLeopoldo Ceraulo

subject

endocrine systemMagnetic Resonance Spectroscopyfood.ingredientCCL4Models BiologicalLecithinMicelleMelatoninCell membranechemistry.chemical_compoundEndocrinologyfoodPhosphatidylcholineSpectroscopy Fourier Transform InfraredmedicineMicellesMelatoninChromatographyCholesterolCell Membranetechnology industry and agricultureNuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopyCholesterolmedicine.anatomical_structurechemistryPhosphatidylcholineslipids (amino acids peptides and proteins)cell membrane models cholesterol confinement effects lecithin melatonin reversed micelleshormones hormone substitutes and hormone antagonistsmedicine.drug

description

The state of melatonin confined in dry cholesterol/lecithin mixed reversed micelles dispersed in CCl4 was investigated using 1H-NMR and FT-IR spectroscopies as a function of the melatonin to lecithin molar ratio (R(MLT)) and of the cholesterol to lecithin molar ratio (R(CHL)). An analysis of experimental results leads to the hypothesis that, independent of R(MLT) and as a consequence of anisotropic melatonin/lecithin, melatonin/cholesterol and cholesterol/lecithin interactions, melatonin is totally solubilized in reversed micelles. Melatonin is mainly located in and oriented in the nanodomain constituted by the hydrophilic groups of cholesterol and lecithin. A competition of melatonin and cholesterol for the hydrophilic binding sites of the reversed micelles was observed by changing the R(CHL). Some possible biological implications of the specific interactions governing the solubilization process, the preferential location and the peculiar properties of melatonin confined in cholesterol/lecithin mixed reversed micelles are discussed.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2005-05-01Journal of Pineal Research
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-079x.2005.00211.x