Use of a fluorescein derivative of phosphatidylethanolamine as a pH probe at water/lipid interfaces.

A fluorescent indicator for the determination of pH in the vicinity of water/lipid interfaces was produced by the covalent linkage of fluoresceinisothiocyanate to Escherichia coli phosphatidylethanolamine. When embedded in monolayers spread on an air/water interface, its apparent pK was shown to be only slightly affected by the nature of the polar headgroups or the packing density of the host phospholipids. Its properties were not affected by the ion content of the subphase. For small unilamellar vesicles, its properties were only affected when localized in the inner layer. This probe could therefore be of value in the study of proton fluxes along biological membranes.