Comparative Fluorescence Resonance Energy-Transfer Study in Pluronic Triblock Copolymer Micelle and Niosome Composed of Biological Component Cholesterol: An Investigation of Effect of Cholesterol and Sucrose on the FRET Parameters.

ABSTRACT

The formation of pluronic triblock copolymer (F127)-cholesterol-based niosome and its interaction with sugar (sucrose) molecules have been investigated. The morphology of F127-cholesterol -based niosome in the presence of sucrose has been successfully demonstrated using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) techniques. The DLS profiles and TEM images clearly suggest that the size of the niosome aggregates increases significantly in the presence of sucrose. In addition to structural characterization, a detailed comparative fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) study has been carried out in these F127-containing aggregates, involving coumarin 153 (C153) as donor (D) and rhodamine 6G (R6G) as an acceptor (A) to monitor the dynamic heterogeneity of the systems. Besides, time-resolved anisotropy and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy measurements have been carried out to monitor the rotational and lateral diffusion motion in these F127-cholesterol-based aggregates using C153 and R6G, respectively. During the course of FRET study, we have observed multiple time constants of FRET inside the F127-cholesterol-based niosomes in contrast with the F127 micelle. This corresponds to the presence of more than one preferential donor-acceptor (D-A) distance in niosomes than in F127 micelle. FRET has also been successfully used to probe the effect of sucrose on the morphology of F127-cholesterol-based niosome. In the presence of sucrose, the time constant of FRET further increases as the D-A distances increase in sucrose-decorated niosome. Finally, the excitation-wavelength-dependent FRET studies have indicated that as the excitation of donor molecules varies from 408 to 440 nm the contribution of the faster rise component of the acceptor enhances considerably, which clearly establishes the dynamics heterogeneity of both systems. Our findings also indicate that FRET is completely intravesicular in nature in these block copolymer-cholesterol-based aggregates.