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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Single-molecule Super-resolution Imaging of Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate in the Plasma Membrane with Novel Fluorescent Probes
Published on: October 15, 2016
Localisation of BODIPY-labelled phosphatidylcholines in lipid bilayers
Radek Sachl1, Ivan Boldyrev, Lennart B A Johansson
1Department of Chemistry, Biophysical Chemistry, Umeå University, S-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.
Abstract:
A series of sn-2 acyl-labelled phosphatidyl-cholines (PC), bearing 4,4-difluoro-1-3-5-7-tetra-methyl-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene-8-yl (Me(4)-BODIPY) at the end of the C(n)-acyl chains were solubilised in unilamellar vesicles and studied with respect to the order and location of the Me(4)-BODIPY (denoted: B) group. The obtained results are based on time-resolved electronic energy transfer from donors (2-(9-anthroyloxy)-stearic acid) localised in the lipid-water interface to acceptors BnPC (n = 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15), as well as the energy migration among the Me(4)-BODIPY groups of BnPC:s. The donor-acceptor and the donor-donor experiments strongly suggest that the Me(4)-BODIPY group in BnPC tends to loop back close to the lipid-water interface. The Me(4)-BODIPY groups, residing in the two bilayer leaflets, are located at approximately the same depth, and transversally separated by ca. 27 A for all n-values. Close to the interface, the optimal transversal distribution widens somewhat with increasing length of the sn-2 acyl chain. The obtained order parameter profile of the BnPC:s is also compatible with such a location.
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