Heterogeneity of microsomal membrane fluidity: evaluation using intrinsic tryptophan energy transfer to pyrene probes

Membrane fluidity measurements based on excimer formation of pyrene and pyrene derivatives as a measure of lateral diffusion yield a decreased fluidity in the presence of proteins [1-3]. It was the aim of our study to investigate whether the reduced excimer formation is due to a rigidifying effect of proteins on the whole membrane or if the fluorophore mobility is mainly hindered in the immediate protein environment. Resonance energy transfer in microsomal membranes between intrinsic tryptophan residues and pyrene were used to study the excimer formation rate in the vicinity of proteins. The excimer-to-monomer fluorescence ratio at excitation via resonance energy transfer is lower than that observed for the direct excitation. The results suggest that, because of a reduced fluidity in the neighbourhood of proteins, pyrene and pyrene fatty acids do not diffuse homogeneously in the membrane plane. A fluidity gradient exists from the membrane proteins to the bulk lipid.