Measurement of membrane potential in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by the electrochromic probe di-4-ANEPPS: effect of intracellular probe distribution.

Changes in the membrane potential of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were monitored by the electrochromic probe 3-(4-(2-(6-(dibutylamino)-2-naphthyl)-trans- ethenyl)pyridinium)propanesulfonate (di-4-ANEPPS) that should incorporate into the plasma membrane. The probe had suitable spectral characteristics and exhibited an electrochromic shift upon a change in membrane potential but the magnitude of the response increased with time. The presence and properties of the cell wall affected the extent of cell staining. The time dependence of the fluorescent response indicated that the probe was not incorporated solely into the plasma membrane but spread gradually into the whole cell; this was confirmed by confocal microscopy. The probe is therefore suitable for assessing membrane potential changes only over time intervals up to 30 min. Longer monitoring will require either a modified staining protocol or a derivatization of the probe molecule. As found by using the dioctyl derivative di-8-ANEPPS, extending the aliphatic chains of the di-4-ANEPPS molecule does not prevent the dye from penetrating into the cell or liposome interior and, in addition, impairs staining.