Fluorescent Probe Environment and the Structural and Charge Changes in Energy Coupling of Mitochondrial Membranes

The use of fluorescent probes to give continuous readouts of the structural states of mitochondrial membranes during energy coupling seems a logical extension of their use in the study of protein structural changes. A clear correlation of the probes' fluorescence characteristics with the acquisition of energy coupling can be demonstrated in fragmented and natural membrane using 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate (ANS) and ethidium bromide respectively. The present contribution attempts to bring together contemporary viewpoints of this and other laboratories and the recent experimental data and give some detailed information on probe environment and on the structural or charge changes occurring upon energization. The energy-dependent region of the membrane is located at an aqueous interface between an outer layer of proteins (presumably cytochromes) and the membrane permeability barrier; the aromatic portion of ANS appears to be located in the lipid phase and the sulfonic acid group in the aqueous phase. The aqueous phase is probably a structured water region near paramagnetic membrane components such as cytochrome. Membrane energization arising from altered redox potential changes of cytochromes (b_T) is communicated to the water structure through altered structural states of the hemoproteins, causing a decreased volume of the structured water region and increased interaction with the paramagnetic components in the energized state. Attendant alterations of protonic equilibria of membrane components induce both local and transmembrane changes in charge distribution, with consequent movements of ions, including the probe molecules themselves.