Variations of lipid-protein interactions in erythrocyte ghosts as a function of temperature and pH in physiological and non-physiological ranges. A study using a paramagnetic quenching of protein fluorescence by nitroxide lipid analogues.

1. Incorporation of stearic acid nitroxides into erythrocyte ghosts markedly depresses the fluorescence of membrane protein tryptophan residues. 5-Nitroxide stearate quenches fluorescence more efficiently than 16-nitroxide stearate. Both compounds exhibit dynamic (diffusion-limited) quenching above 0.28 mumol/mg protein and static quenching at lower nitroxide protein ratios. Static quenching can be attributed to high affinity binding of nitroxide stearates by membrane protein. The dynamic phase represents distribution of the stearate analogues into a fluid lipid system. 2. Protein fluorophores accessible to quenching by a cholesterol analogue, androstane nitroxide, are saturated at low nitroxide/protein ratios (less than 0.14 mumol/mg protein), without resolution of a static quenching phase. This suggests that sterols are segregated away from protein, probably in CLusters". 3. Paramagnetic quenching by stearate nitroxides increases abruptly between 35 and 50 degrees C. This discontinuous enhancement of quenching by temperature is reversible up to 41 degrees C but irreversible at higher temperatures. The discontinuity is also diminished by lowering pH from 7.3 through 6.5 to 6.0. Quenching by androstane nitroxide increases linearly with temperature up to approx. 41 degrees C and then rises exponentially. We attribute the reversible quenching thermotropism detected by stearate derivatives to reversible, thermotropic unfolding and/or depolymerisation of membrane proteins. The irreversible phase, detected also by the sterol derivative can be attributed to non-reversible protein denaturation. 4. Paramagnetic quenching of membrane tryptophan fluorescence by stearate derivatives is minimal at approx. pH 7.1 (35 degrees C) and increases sharply at lower and higher pH values, suggesting that two categories of protein residues, titrating between pH 6 and 8, profoundly influence the association of fatty acyl chains and penetrating protein segments. Quenching by androstane nitroxide exhibits no significant variation between pH 6 and 8, consistent with other data indicating that erythrocyte membrane sterols are segregated from membrane proteins, probably in clusters. 5. Our new approach confirms previous suggestions of a boundary layer of lipid in close association with some proteins in erythrocyte membranes, as well as experiments indicating that the lipid status in this boundary layer depends on that state of membrane proteins. However, sterols appear to be largely excluded from this boundary domain. Our data further show that lipid-protein interactions in erythrocyte membranes can vary significantly with fluctuations of temperature and pH in the physiological range.